Reflections Vol 4: It's All In The Reflexes
by avmorgan
Summary: Volume 04. Complete. Ranko faces the consequences of returning to China, becoming an amazon and being forced into a marriage duel by Herb. Ranko faces the question: Is it necessary for part of her to die, in order for her to live?
1. Part One

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi, and the associated cast and concepts are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and those publishers and distributors to whom she has given official rights. This work, in no way intends to infringe upon those rights. The ideas explored are those of the author, and should not be construed to express the opinions or intentions of the creator or associated agencies. 

Previously: Reflections begins after Part 4 of Volume 35 of the manga, and explores the events which unfold starting when the Tendo Household gets stuck with **two** amorous copies of Ranma, one male and one female. As they wait for the seal of the cursed mirror to be repaired again, things quickly become far more strange than even the Tendo Household is prepared for. Ranma, confronted by the clones of his male and female halves, takes the first step on a troubled road of self discovery. In Volume One, Ranma is confronted with the prospect of keeping his reflections around. His father's scheme to use the male clone to escape the seppuku pact forces him to surrender his identity. At the same time, Cologne discovers the reflections and reveals that the cursed mirror is actually the Mirror of Broken Souls, a potential cure for a Jusenkyo Curse. The only problem is, embracing this cure could be fatal for Ranma. Still, the promise of a future as both a normal boy **and** girl proves too much to resist. In giving up who he is, the cursed teen is forced to discover who he once was and who he will become. In Volume Two, Ranma confronts the legacy of a former life. Adopting a female persona, in the wake of giving his identity to the male clone, she is confronted with her past identity when Fa Shen awakens and takes possession of her body, while the copies begin their new lives as Ranma and Ranko by pairing up with Akane and Ryouga on dates. In Volume Three, after assuming the identity of Ranko and freeing the true Ranma and Fa Shen from the depths of her mind (ironically awakening in the female and male bodies, respectively), the cursed teen is cured, just when she realizes she needs the curse to make sense of her own existence. Worse, the cure reveals that Ranma should have been born a girl! When Happosai uses the cure to turn Fa Shen back into a girl, Nodoka learns everything. A series of desperate and foolish actions follow, bringing a new level of chaos to the Tendo Household, and all who enter it. The only way to fix the damage is to return to Jusenkyo and seek help from Prince Herb of the Musk.

Part One

The peace and quiet of a beautiful spring morning in the Amazon Village was broken by raised voices and the concussion of wood on flesh. "You are SO uncuuuuuuute!" shouted Ranma as he arced through the sky over the village. In the small courtyard behind Cologne's home, a large, solid manor house befitting a ruling Matriarch, Akane stood heaving in rage. Around her, a crowd of amazon teens drawn to the commotion stood in awe and glee. In Mandarin, they chatted in excitement over the implications of this strange, one-shot battle. Those who understood Japanese had been translating the exchange of insults that evolved through the course of Ranma and Akane's misunderstanding. The translators could not grasp the concept of "tomboy" so the best they could make of Ranma's favorite insult was that Ranma accused Akane of being a boy. The rest of his usual character assassinations of Akane pointed out a long list of decidedly unfeminine traits that most of the amazons found themselves agreeing with. If Ranma had known he had the support of an entire community on his views about Akane, he would have laughed his fool head off—or Akane would have knocked it off for him. 

            Not surprisingly, Ranma had become the focus of interest among the amazon youth. Unlike the other two "reborn" amazons, Ranma was a male. On his first day in the village, he had been introduced to the village as an honorary woman. It had been a long time since that had happened, but Ranma was the only one who was the victim of a Nanniichuan curse. It astounded all of the amazons that he had not been punished for getting himself locked in male form, especially when it was learned that he had refused the cure to the Chisuiiton when Herb offered it to him. Eventually, word had gotten out that Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen were attempting to master their curses using the teachings of the original Shokei Fist. Still, a man who received all the honors and respect of a woman warrior was a novelty for the younger generation.

            "What are you all looking at!?" Akane roared, when she noticed her audience. 

            "You defeated Ranma," one of them replied in awe. 

            "Yeah, well, the jerk was asking for it!" she fumed. 

            This started another commotion, as her comment was interpreted to mean that Ranma had baited Akane into challenging him. They had all seen amazon maidens do the same exact thing to trap a desirable outsider male. It was unusual to see this ploy used by a man, but Akane WAS an outsider, and obviously a man at heart, as far as Ranma was concerned. Whatever Ranma's reasons for remaining male were, he certainly was demonstrating that he was a woman warrior at heart! 

            Assuming that all the discussion meant the crowd sympathized with her, Akane calmed down. "I guess I better go see if the jerk is alright," she sighed, stalking off in the direction she had kicked her fiancé. After a few steps, she realized that everyone was following her. She paused to look at them in confusion, but they stopped a pace behind her and waited. Shrugging, she turned and resumed her march. They fell in step, giving Akane a very odd feeling of doom. Fa Shen and Ranko stood in the now empty courtyard and stared at each other. They had both understood the commentary from the audience, but they had been so stunned by their conclusions they had been left behind. By unspoken agreement, they bolted after the crowd. Ranko raced ahead to warn Ranma, as Fa Shen sprinted up to Akane to explain what the crowd was expecting. 

            "They think WHAT!?" Akane exploded, after Fa Shen whispered in her ear. 

            "Keep it down!" Fa Shen hissed, urging Akane to put more distance between them and the crowd. "They think you just defeated Ranma in combat, Akane. With Ranma making all those remarks, they think he thinks you're a guy… well, on the inside, you know. That's why they're all following you. They want to see Ranma give you the kiss of marriage."

            "That's ridiculous! I'm not marrying Ranma!" Akane almost yelled. Fa Shen just looked at her unmoved. Akane blushed, "I mean, not yet. Maybe not ever. There is the engagement, but it's not like he's chosen between me and Ukyo. I'm certainly not going to marry him over something stupid like this. And what do you mean, they think I'm a guy!? Have they even looked at Ukyo! There's a girl who really does act like a boy!"

            "Calm down, Akane. I'm just warning you. Ranko's going to talk to Ranma, so… You might wanna maybe find something else to do for a while. Away from Ranma," Fa Shen suggested. "Trust me, Ranma's fine. I'm sure he isn't even scratched. He's probably happy that you're back to normal even."

            "What's that supposed to mean?" Akane scowled. 

            "Well, that is the first time in a while that you've lost your temper with him. Don't forget I know exactly what things were like before the mirror thing. You started to act… different then, but now, you're more like your old self," Fa Shen tried to explain. 

            "And that's his excuse for being such a jerk!?" Akane demanded in disgust. 

            "Are you so sure he was just being mean?" Fa Shen smiled, thinking that Akane had provoked the morning's scene on purpose. It's not like she did not know how Ranma would react to the news that Akane had prepared a special breakfast for him. Then she frowned. Actually, Akane seemed to have a large blind spot where her cooking was involved, and it altered her whole perception of reality. "I mean, you did hear him say how happy he was that you cooked breakfast for him. Didn't you? And he really did appreciate the effort. He just…"

            "He refused to eat any of it! He always refuses to even taste it before rejecting it! He was being a complete and total jerk!" Akane huffed, taking a detour from the path to veer away from where Ranma landed. "I got up early and slaved over the stove for hours just to make sure I got it right this time."

            Fa Shen sighed. "I am sure you really tried, Akane. Still, you do remember what he asked you first, don't you?" Akane looked at her blankly. Fa Shen stopped and turned to face the other girl. "Akane, he was being very nice, he was being very patient, and he politely asked you how it tasted…"

            "And I told him to try it and find out!" Akane interrupted in irritation.

            Fa Shen shook her head, "You said, 'I don't know. Why don't you to tell me,' Akane. Don't you get it?" But as Akane frowned in an effort to think, Fa Shen concluded it was necessary to spell it out. "You were mad that he even asked, but the point is, you never tasted it, did you?"

            "I made it for him…"

            "You're not listening. You're the cook. You're supposed to taste the food before you serve it to other people," Fa Shen lectured as calmly as she could. "Even if you're the greatest chef in the world, there's always the chance that the ingredients got mixed up or something has gone bad. How many times has Ranma asked you if you bother to taste your cooking before you serve it? Do you think he's making fun of you when he does that?"

            "He… he's always insulting me. He thinks I can't do anything right. He assumes I'm a bad cook!" Akane protested, with tears beginning to well up. 

            "Akane," Fa Shen looked at her sadly, "you ARE a bad cook."

            Akane jerked as if she had stepped on a live wire. A switch in her head flipped from self-pity to rage, and the air around her began to grow thick and hot, presaging the manifestation of her battle aura. Fa Shen snorted and slapped her palm flat against Akane's chest, sending a flood of chi through her body. To Akane, if felt like a cold, ocean wave crashing over a roaring bonfire. She gasped as her anger was extinguished, too shocked to try and reclaim it.

            "You are also a bad martial artist, a rock in the water, a pathetic seamstress, a terrible judge of character, an unreasonable, prejudiced and opinionated bitch, and the most ill-tempered person I've met outside of Ryouga," Fa Shen criticized a bit more harshly, getting in the extra blows while Akane was stunned. Then, she took a deep breath and smiled. "On the other hand, you're an intelligent, compassionate, and loyal friend, an excellent actress, an incredible athlete, you're inhumanly strong and determined, you never let the idea that you can't do something stop you from trying, and you are one of the most forgiving people I know outside of Ranma."

            Akane blinked, speechless. 

            "But for right now, let's just focus on the part about cooking," Fa Shen suggested playfully. "The fact that you care so much, that you try so hard to please others, really counts. But, you focus too much on the end result—the ideal in your head—that you deny the fact that you haven't got a clue how to really get there. You can't just decide that you are going to be a wonderful cook and make delicious food everyone will praise. You have to actually learn how to cook."

            "But I know how to cook," Akane protested weakly. "I've watched Kasumi cook thousands of times, and I even watched my mother cook before she died."

            Fa Shen sighed and asked, "Did you understand what you were seeing?"

            "Huh?" Akane intoned, with another blank look. 

            "I can see we're gonna have to start from scratch," Fa Shen demurred. 

Ranko finally spotted where Ranma had crashed through the canopy of trees and raced in to warn him. Not too surprisingly, Ranma was hanging upside down about four meters above the ground, dangling from a branch that had snagged his pant's leg, and grumbling about Akane. Once again, Ranko suffered the odd feeling of dislocation that came as a result of living his life for almost a year. With a laugh, she announced her presence, "You know, if Pops hadn't dragged me to that mansion, I'd be the one hanging upside down from a tree somewhere and bitchin' up a storm. I can't say I miss it, but… it actually seems pretty funny when you look at if from the outside, Ranma." It should not have qualified as sympathy, but Ranko was the one person who would know what a consolation her remark was to him in that moment. Ranma sighed and stopped complaining, while nodding in response. He bent double, stretching one hand up to grasp the branch, while the other untangled his pant's leg. Once he was free, he ricocheted from branch to branch until he was down at Ranko's level on the forest floor.

            "Sure you don't miss it," he grinned. 

            Ranko's smirk faded. She was supposed to be the one who had him all figured out. Not the other way around. Shrugging and brushing the comment off, she commented, "At least she starting to act like you really are you."

            "You mean, she's treatin' me like she used to treat you," he corrected. There were weird feelings on both sides. About Akane. About Ryouga. It was particularly weird having someone to talk to who did not need to ask how he felt. Weirder to know that he could not hide those feelings from her either. He was still trying to decide if they were really her feelings. 

            Ranko sighed, "It's not like that. I mean, I think she's finally getting it, that you are the real thing. I was just a bad copy."

            Ranma grunted and rubbed the back of his head. They'd had this conversation before. Even with more and more of Fa Shen's memories coming to her, Ranko was still more of a female version of Ranma than a blending of him and Fa Shen. Even Ranma had begun to pick up flashes of the drowned girl's life, and the problem was that so much of it was like his own. For Ranko, it had to seem like she had been born and grown up with the curse, sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl, but always devoted to the art, traveling from place to place, spending more time in the wilderness than around other people. The people she, or rather Fa Shen, had known, were all long dead. Also, she had never lived as Fa Shen, not like she had believed she was Ranma for almost eleven months. With the revelation about Ranma's first sex change, there was the added incentive to believe that she was the one who was supposed to have been born in the first place. 

            "Forget that for a moment," Ranko suddenly interrupted, remembering why she had tracked him down. "We have a problem. Or, you have a problem, really."

            "Like that's anything new," Ranma rolled his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he prompted, "Okay, whatever it is, lay it on me." He thought that by now he was ready for anything. Ranko immediately proved him wrong. She quickly spelled out the amazons' reaction to his fight with Akane. In abject disbelief, he shouted, "They WHAT!?"

            "I don't think 'tomboy' translates well in amazon culture. They think you think Akane's a man, in spirit, and that you provoked her into a marriage battle," Ranko summarized. "They're on their way here to see you give Akane a kiss of marriage." 

            "No way! Uhn uh! There's no way I'm gonna marry that flat-chested, thick-legged, mallet-wielding, macho tomboy!" he ranted, stomping around in a circle. Coming around to see Ranko standing, arms crossed, tapping her foot while she glared at him, he quickly backpedaled. "I mean, they've got it all wrong. I can't marry Akane right now. I have to figure out what to do about Ukyo first."

            "That's why I am here, you idiot," Ranko fretted. She looked around to confirm that they were not about to be overrun with amazons. "Look, the important thing is, you need to avoid Akane for a while. I don't know if we can make anyone understand about you and Akane fighting. It's not like you have to do it, since you can't actually challenge her, and she—hopefully—isn't going to challenge you…"

            "If she challenged me to a real fight, there's no way she'd beat me," Ranma interrupted.

            Ranko punched him and glared, "Don't interrupt me. You should know how it works, Ranma. I almost had to marry Shampoo 'cuz I accidentally knocked her out. Akane's an outsider, an' that means she's qualified for the kiss of marriage about a thousand times over."

            "But I'm a guy. It doesn't work like that for amazon males. I checked," he protested. 

            Ranko stared at him. Grabbing him by his shirt and shaking him, she shouted, "Do you remember that whole 'honorary woman' thing you went through when we got here? You're just lucky they don't know about Ryu and Taro!"

            "Hey, that was all you," Ranma retorted. "You should be worried about that, not me."

            "That's not the point! If a guy DOES manage to knock you out…" she let that hang.

            Ranma stared at her for a long moment. Finally he shook his head, "No way. You can't be serious. I don't care how much fun it is to have sex as a girl, I ain't marryin' no guy!"

            "Do you think any normal amazon girl is all that crazy about getting knocked out and dragged off by some strange guy? Even if she hates her 'husband' the law is the law, and the tribe forces her to claim him and drag him home. If it happened to you," she emphasized, "you'd have no choice. You would be allowed to get him cursed, but you'd still have to marry him."

            "That is so messed up!" he growled. He did not bother to argue with Ranko, she had better access to the memories than he did, and she had a lot more reason—he had thought—to be concerned about knowing all the details. Shaking it off, he demanded, "What does this have to do with Akane? I don't care how macho she is, when you get right down to it, she really is a girl."

            "And a cute one at that," Ranko sighed fondly. 

            "Stop that and answer the question," Ranma snapped. 

            "Don't be so grouchy. I would have married her, and we both know it. I can't just… stop," Ranko retorted unhappily. 

            "You have Ryouga," Ranma shot back, with obvious pain in his voice. 

            "God, it sucks to be us," Ranko moaned. Ranma gave her a level look. Shrugging, she returned to the point, "If this idea of Akane having a 'man's spirit' catches on, it would be just as reasonable for the council to declare her an 'honorary man' so that the laws for men can apply to her. And be careful, I've already heard remarks of that sort about Ukyo. They took one look at her and decided she was WRONG."

            Ranma groaned. "Tell me about it. I had to keep her from killing some of the villagers when she found out that, instead of 'lending a friendly hand' she was being given 'men's work'. You know how Ukyo is, she's happy to make new friends by cooking and helping out, but once she started to get ordered around, she snapped. Luckily, she didn't defeat anyone before I showed up. Some of those girls looked eager to give her a kiss of death," he shuddered in memory. 

            "What!?" Ranko fumed. 

            "It's okay," Ranma waved a hand. "Fa Shen showed up and declared her bond of friendship with Ukyo. Since that makes her an official ally of the tribe, she's immune to the kiss of death."

            "Thank God!" Ranko breathed. 

            Ranma kicked at the dirt and thought for a moment. Ranko let him think, shifting her attention to scan the woods around them, wondering why the crowd had not pounced on them already. She hoped that meant Fa Shen had diverted Akane. 

            "Alright," Ranma announced. "I guess I'll stay outta Akane's way for a while. I really should be focusing on mastering my curse, anyway." 

            Ranko blinked and looked at him. "That's right. We were supposed to start that today, weren't we?" She fidgeted in place. Ranma and Fa Shen had gotten in a big argument on the way to the village, as Fa Shen explained why it would not be possible for them to master their curses. All three of them had ended up with reversed curses that made it possible for them to be locked in their normal forms. The problem was, the best technique for mastering a curse required the initiate be locked in their cursed form, using the impulse to assert their normal forms as the impetus to gain control over the transformation magic. The other techniques involved keeping the curse unlocked and trying to overcome the hot and cold water triggers that controlled the transformations. 

            "Well, the rest of us have to catch up with you. You're already half way there," he reminded her. When Prince Herb had found out that Ranko was uncursed, he had used the chisuiiton to prevent her from getting a Nanniichuan curse, since he had planned on claiming one of triplets for a bride. If Ranma had not gone into the trap mirror, Herb would have done the same to him. When Fa Shen met Herb to get the lock Shampoo put on her taken off, so she could get a Nyanniichuan curse, Ranko had tried to steal the Kaisuifuu. Lime and Mint thwarted her, playing pickle with the kettle and Ranko while Fa Shen and Herb fought their duel over the cursed springs. The two battles crossed paths, and Fa Shen was able to intercept the kettle and send it to Ranko, who had fallen in the Nanniichuan trying to keep Fa Shen from landing in it. Ranko tripped and missed the catch, so the kettle landed in the pool with her. It heated the water and exposed Ranko to the hot Nanniichuan water. As a result, Ranko ended up with a hot water curse and a built in locking mechanism. Ranko could lock herself in female form at will, in cold water, or unlock her male form at will, in hot water. 

            "What I've got isn't mastery, Ranma. I still need hot and cold water to change," Ranko pointed out ruefully. With a sigh, she reminded herself that she was in the same position as Fa Shen. She did have a much stronger affinity for her male form, but she did not know if it was truly equal to her female form. "Besides, I certainly can't do what you and Fa Shen can do. Even if Fa Shen is right, and we can't master our curses the traditional way, the two of you could easily switch places and then you wouldn't have reversed curses to worry about anymore."

            Ranma gaped at her in surprise. 

            Ranko stared at him. "What!? You can't honestly tell me you didn't think of that!" 

            Ranma shook his head sheepishly. As Ranko glared at him, Ranma sighed, "Come on, Ranko. The whole point of mastering our curses was so we wouldn't have any need to switch places. Being able to change into a girl is nice, but it's not worth having the curse controlled by water and while I don't mind havin' to have sex in order to change, it's not exactly convenient. Also, what I'd want to be a girl for, I can't use Fa Shen's body to do." 

            Ranko shook her head. The legacy of the Mirror of Broken Souls was weird and perverse, but there had been another element to it, besides how it allowed Ranma and Fa Shen to trade bodies. They had to have sex together to trigger the swap, but the sex itself opened a channel into their shared soul that Ranko could draw power directly from. This was the very thing that had brought her from the brink of death back to full strength, after awakening Ranma and Fa Shen almost killed her. It was a secret weapon that outclassed anything the trio had seen or could imagine, and at some point Ranko was going to have to learn how to master it. Happosai had not been joking when he claimed that sexual energy was too powerful to handle. If Ranko had not figured out how to reign Ranma and Fa Shen in, to control the flow of power, she would have been burnt to dust in minutes. "I'm not exactly in any hurry for you two to have sex again," Ranko pointed out, archly. "The second time was not so bad, but the first time… Well, you know. If we ever needed proof that we're all the same person, you can't ask for anything better than that. But, if it will help you guys master your curses, I'm willing to face it again, Ranma."

            Ranma frowned. He was aware of the awesome power Ranko confronted in their little circuit, but this was the first time she had indicated that it intimidated her in any way. He had thought the notion of sharing the whole experience had just weirded her out. "Is there something you didn't tell us, Ranko?"

            "I thought you would have figured it out on your own," she evaded, looking away. 

            "Ranko…"

            "It's okay, Ranma. It's just… It's so much power, I simply can't afford to make any mistakes. There's only two options. Either I master it completely, which I can't do alone, or I never use it at all. It's no big deal if it's just you two trading places, but if it was in a fight…" she stopped. In a voice of overwhelming apprehension, she wondered, "What would I have to be fighting to need that much power in order to win? A Kami? A demon? Is there really anything that powerful out there?"

            Ranma felt sweat begin to bead his scalp. "Okay. THAT is a scary thought."

            After a long silence, Ranko cleared her throat, "Well, it looks like Fa Shen diverted Akane. They should have found us by now if they were still looking."

A little later in the morning, Ranko finally tracked Fa Shen down in the kitchen of Cologne's home. Because of the planned adoption of Nodoka and her children, Cologne had taken them all in. To repay this hospitality, Akane had volunteered AGAIN to destroy her kitchen. Somewhere, Shampoo was having kittens. Ranko winced immediately at the thought—for several reasons. "Not literally. Please, God, not literally," she plead to the heavens. With her luck though, if such a thing ever did happen, the little beasts would take after Shampoo and spend all their time plotting to ambush her and drape themselves all over her. That brought on a shuddering fit that dropped Ranko to her knees. As if that were not enough, her mind decided to demonstrated even greater depths of perversity, trying to picture how such a thing might come to pass. "Gyaah! I don't even want to meet the c-c-cat that could defeat her in combat! Brrr!" The question was, would Shampoo still have to give 'him' the kiss of marriage? "Stopit! Stopit! Stopit! I'm not THAT desperate to avoid marryin' her!" She began to beat at her head, trying to drive these horrifying thoughts out of her mind. 

            "Ranchan? What the hell are you talking about, and, why are you hitting yourself on the head?" Ukyo asked in startled confusion. After an hour of trying to help Fa Shen teach Akane to cook, she had been grateful for her favorite red-head's interruption. It would be so much more pleasant, however, if she was not acting crazy at the same time. 

            Ranko was too busy pummeling herself to take in her best friend's question. "Hee, hee… Kittens… No! Bad! Wrong! Wrong-Bad-Wrong! BadbadbadWRONG!" Just as she was about to start pounding her head in the wall, Fa Shen stepped up and poked her in the back of her head. For a second, Ranko's head was empty of all thought, then her brain started up again with that whole train of thought derailed. With a gasp of relief, she glomped her twin and cried, "Oh! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! God, I love you! Don't ever change!" 

            Akane, having come forward to stand shoulder to shoulder by Ukyo, gaped in confusion at Ranko's strange behavior. The two former fiancées unconsciously responded to Ranko's impassioned declaration with ill grins, clenched fists warping or breaking the utensils in their hands, while their eyes twitched ominously. "Ranko…" they growled. 

            Ranko stiffened and pulled away from Fa Shen. After a rush of nervous laughter, she rubbed the back of her head and blurted, "What?"

            "What was that all about?" Fa Shen asked. 

            "Huh?" Ranko blinked, but in her attempt to answer the question, she got herself started again. "Akane. Kitchen. Aaaah! Shampoo's gonna h-ha-haa haa haa HAAA! K-k-k-KITTENS! Kyaaaaaa! G-g-get'emoff! Get'emoff! Mother!" Fa Shen stared at her, and then slapped her face. Ranko blinked and rubbed her cheek. Meeting her twin's eyes, she blushed, "Thanks."

            "You know, that almost made sense to me. That can't be a good thing," Fa Shen commented. 

            "Trust me, you don't wanna know…" Ranko shuddered. 

            Fa Shen nodded thoughtfully. She turned to Ukyo, "Mother should be back soon. Do you think you can handle this until she gets here, Ukyo?" Ukyo bit her lip and glanced between Akane and the chaos in progress. If two competent cooks had not been able to prevent what had already happened, she dreaded to think what she was getting herself into. In spite of that, she nodded. Fa Shen smiled and patted the other girl's arm in relief, "Thanks. I'm gonna get Ranko out of here before she flips out."

            "Again," Ukyo had to add. 

            "Uh, actually, I just came to remind you about your training with Ranma," Ranko perked up. Fa Shen stared at her. Smiling, Ranko prodded, "You completely forgot, didn't you?"

            "Training?" Akane asked, immediately interested. 

            "Special training, Akane," Ranko quickly cut in. "We're supposed to be mastering our curses."

            Akane's face fell. 

            Ukyo gave them a thoughtful look. Clearing her throat, she asked, "So, uh… if that works out… Are you still going to…? You know." Her eyes flickered out the window to where a large, crypt-like stone vault contained Ranko's gift to Ukyo and Ranma's gift to his father. 

            Ranko contained her groan. With a clipped nod, she replied, "The cask is still safe. If we work out a sure way to master a curse, you can try it. Just remember, Ranma and I won't allow it if you only wanna do this for us." She did not need to hear Ukyo's reply. She had heard the same thing a hundred times before she had convinced her friend to wait. 

            "I've already told you, with you or without you, Ukyo Kuonji is still, legally, a boy."

            Ranko nodded. In case she dared to forget how stubborn her friend could be, she reminded herself that Ukyo spent almost a decade of her life devoted to the pursuit of Ranma and Genma, training herself to take revenge on them for destroying her future as a woman. Ranma was the only one who could give that back to her, but because of Ranko, she was willing to throw it away completely. The moral of the story was, one word of encouragement had the power to destroy the person it was given to. Or was that, no good deed went unpunished? 

            Fa Shen sensed the life going out of Ranko, and quickly shuffled her outside. Once out of earshot, she consoled, "It's not your fault, Ranko. Your father and hers did this to her. Getting cursed won't kill her. Well, at least not that curse. Stop blaming yourself for 'making her want it'."

            "It's not that simple, Fa Shen," Ranko complained. 

            "Nothing ever is," she responded sagely. "Now, where's Ranma, and what's the big rush?"

            "He's right here," Ranko pulled out the infamous compact and showed it to Fa Shen. That stopped the other girl cold. No other prompting was needed for her to understand what it meant, if she was expected to meet Ranma in the perfect privacy offered by the trap mirror. It was inevitable that, from there, she would combine that prospect with the Shokei Fist training, and grasp the entire scheme. 

            "You're kidding," she stated in a flat voice. 

            "It fixes the reversed curse problem, doesn't it?" Ranko challenged. When Fa Shen said nothing, she added, "Look. At the very least, we can see if the technique you already trained for will actually work. It's not like it's a permanent trade, just an experiment."

            Fa Shen nodded. Loaning her body to Ranma did not bother her in the least, but giving it to him, or letting him use it however he desired, had been another thing altogether. Taking a deep breath, she met Ranko's eyes. "What about you?"

            "You mean, what am I going to do while you two are busy?" she grinned. Fa Shen blushed and nodded. "Well, first thing, we are going to find a nice, isolated practice area where I won't be disturbed. Then, you go in with Ranma. Once the circuit is open, I'll be experimenting to see if I can actually control that power enough to fight with it." The best aspect of integrating Fa Shen's memories, was that it had boosted Ranko's experience with ki manipulation techniques by a decade. If there was anything she could use all that power for, she had all the tools she needed to harness it. 


	2. Part Two

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Two

Ranko and Fa Shen had wandered to a remote valley some distance from the Amazon Village. Along the way, they commented on how much the landscape had changed in fifteen hundred years. The world they both knew from Fa Shen's childhood was gone forever, though the general theme and character of the area had remained consistent. The modern age had made it's mark, but it was still a rural mountain region. The people lived closer to the land, and thus had a bit more respect for it. Of course there were more OF them. In spite of the explosion of China's population, it was still possible to find an abandoned field where a martial artist could train and experiment with ki attacks without worrying about by-standers. Not that Ranko was taking that for granted. This specific place was maintained and protected by the amazons as a place for them to practice and train new students in the tribe's secret techniques. Outsiders would certainly not be found in this valley, and even amazons knew better than to spy on anyone using the training ground. Unless they wanted to get themselves killed, they would make a point of announcing themselves before they approached. The sentries around the valley would also send up an alarm if they noticed anyone entering the area, so that who ever was practicing could break off their training. Since the two girls had told Cologne that they were headed to the training ground, so that Ranko could work on some of the things she had picked up from Fa Shen, they had assurance that the sentries were on duty. As long as Ranko was cautious, she would not arouse any suspicions of the trio's secret weapon. 

            Before they got started, however, Ranko pulled out the compact, flipped it open, and patted it on the back. Ranma came spilling out with, of all things, a large book in his hands. Dusting himself off and hopping to his feet, he tucked the book up a sleeve. 

            "I see you're getting better at using the Hidden Weapons technique," Fa Shen smirked. 

            Ranma grinned and leaned his head to each side, popping his neck, "It's kinda handy. So, what's going on? I thought you were gonna join me?"

            "What's with the book, Ranma?" Ranko inquired impishly. 

            "What? I was in there for over an hour, y'know. I had to do something with my time."

            "Yeah, but… reading? You're kidding me, right?" Ranko prodded. 

            "It's a book on special techniques," Ranma defended himself. Ranko immediately looked interested and held out her hand. Ranma shook his head, "Sorry, Ranko. I want to surprise you two with this." Ranko looked hurt and offended. It did not fool Ranma a bit. Turning to Fa Shen, he commented, sotto voce, "Geez. You'd think she'd be able to wait until we got started. She'll know everything I know as soon as the circuit is formed."

            Ranko frowned slightly. "Actually, that's sorta the reason I pulled you out here."

            The other two gave her curious looks. 

            Ranko fidgeted, looking down. This was not going to be easy. Taking a deep breath, she looked up into their eyes. "I know I should have said something earlier. It's not like I'll ever be able to keep secrets from you two permanently," she began. Ranma and Fa Shen exchanged glances. When they looked back at Ranko, they were frowning. "It's not what you think. I mean, you two seemed to have figured most of it out on your own. I just didn't know how to explain the rest of it to you."

            "The rest of what? What have we figured out, Ranko?" Ranma asked. 

            "Something about us changed the last time we formed the circuit," Ranko reminded him. He nodded and Fa Shen crossed her arms with a thoughtful expression. Ranko swallowed. "Well, that was sorta my fault," she admitted. As precisely as possible, she explained what she had discovered during their last body swap. She had noticed certain flaws in each of them and discovered she could slip through the fabric of their psyches and fix things. Part of the problem Ranma and Fa Shen had been having was because there had been parts of Ranko in the reflections that they were unable to absorb. Those pieces of her had been like broken shards in their minds. Unfortunately, those pieces had also been the things helping both of them cope with the bodies they had been trapped in. Ranma's impossible acceptance of Ranko's femininity had been a major example, but the serious part of it was her love for Ryouga. Ranko had unwittingly robbed Ranma of that, leaving the memories of their night together and Ranma's own feelings about the lost boy intact. The same thing in Fa Shen's case had freed her from Ranko's feelings for Akane. On the whole, she had made things a lot better for all of them, but she had still felt guilty for essentially stealing Ryouga from Ranma. 

            Ranma collected his wits, and responded, "You don't have to feel guilty about that! I was tearing myself up tryin' to figure out what to do! I mean, yeah, I was totally gone on Ryouga, but… that wasn't me. I thought my brain had snapped. I was ready to give up on bein' me altogether because of those feelings. I'm glad to know it wasn't really me!"

            "Well, okay, but I could sorta see that in the way you acted about it after," Ranko admitted. "The thing that's been eatin' at me, though, is that I did it without your permission. I did it to you. An' the thing that's botherin' me now is, I have that kind of power over both of you. Nothin' scares me more than knowing that somethin' can mess with my mind! I mean, that's the worst part of the whole C-C-C-Cat Fist. It totally messes with my mind! It's a part of me that can control me that I can't control. If I can hate that, I'd have to hate me, if I was you!"

            Fa Shen studied her wide-eyed twin, before nodding. "Okay. Yeah. I can see why you'd be afraid to bring this up," she commented. Now that it had been explained, it did put her ill at ease. From the look of Ranma, Ranko's example had really driven the point home. She shook her head, "But you're looking at it the wrong way, Ranko."

            "What do you mean?" Ranma challenged. 

            "How should I look at it?" Ranko hoped Fa Shen had a good suggestion. 

            "Well, for one thing, you're not like that cat personality. We can face you directly. You also aren't the only one with control of the situation. The decision to form the circuit is entirely mine and Ranma's. In fact, we sort of have power over you, since we can force you into it, but you can't force us. Also, we can break the circuit, and again there's nothing you can do about it…"

            "Actually, I have a lot more control there than you think," Ranko admitted bitterly.

            Fa Shen frowned. "Well, maybe it's not that cut and dried, BUT," she emphasized, "Ranma and I are as aware of you as you are of us. We're not out of the loop. If we have less influence than you, it's probably our fault for being more absorbed in what we're doing and not paying much attention to what you are doing. Sex does not make me incapable of coherent thought." 

            Ranma made an unhappy noise. The two girls looked at him oddly. Clearing his throat he muttered, "But that's what I like about sex. Losing control, but in a nice way. Letting go." Rather than try to explain, he grabbed Ranko by the arms and said, "It should be different for you. You're above it, you should have more control. Someone has to be on top of things with all that power rushing through us. It's not like you're not worried about someone getting hurt. Don't get carried away an' think that being in control means we shouldn't trust you. If I can't trust you, who can I trust?"

            Ranko crossed her arms, shifting them in his grip, and met his eye sheepishly, "Would you say that if I didn't warn you and you found out on your own?"

            Ranma cocked his head a little, still looking upset. It did bother him to think that his mind could be messed with, but it was not like a total stranger, or worse, his father, was the person who had that power. With a rueful smile, he countered, "Yeah, there'd be doubts and stuff. 'S not much different, though. It's not like me an' Fa Shen didn't notice somethin' different. If it happens again, well, we'll know to check with you an' find out if you did somethin' in the circuit."

            "It's not like you can hurt us without hurting yourself, Ranko," Fa Shen added meaningfully. "I am sure that's why you told us instead of just letting us find out from your memories. We have to trust each other, but come on, it's not like none of us can make mistakes. You learned something new, you told us that it's dangerous, we'll try to be careful with that. What more can you ask for?"

            Ranko nodded. "I don't want any of us to get hurt, that's all. I've had a taste of hating myself, and it would really mess me up to feel something like that from the two of you," she confessed. That was enough for the other two. They had experienced the awesome amplification of self-love through each other. It was not hard to imagine the terror of self-hatred enhanced and projected at them from each other. Ranma pulled Ranko closer, into a supportive hug, and Fa Shen leaned in from behind her and ran her hand over Ranko's head comfortingly. After a moment, Ranko relaxed. "If you're both okay with this, then, I guess we could get started," she suggested.             

Akane jogged up the path in exasperation. Her cooking lesson had been brought to an abrupt end when Shampoo wandered in, drawn to Ukyo and Nodoka's shouts. Now, it was true, the kitchen had become quite a mess, but the okonomiyaki chef and her future mother-in-law had been so jumpy and excited over every little detail that they had made Akane extremely nervous. How could she be blamed if all that hovering and shouting made her all thumbs? Was that any reason for Shampoo to draw a sword and chase Akane clear out of the village? The way she was acting, a person would have to think she'd caught Happosai in her panty drawer—dressed in nothing but Shampoo's panties! With a sigh, Akane picked up her pace. The incident had quickly been shoved out of her mind when she stumbled into Ryouga, who announced that he had been on his way to the bath when he stumbled across Mousse, Lime and Mint. Ignoring Ryouga's confusion about why there was a large forest in Cologne's house, Akane focused on the important details. Apparently, the blind boy had enlisted the pair of Musk warriors as training partners in preparation for his marriage duel with Ranko. Ryouga had forgotten about the bath and set out in search of Ranko to warn her. Against the inhuman speed of the wolf-boy, and the titanic strength of the tiger-boy, Mousse could well improve to the point where he could give his girl friend a serious challenge. Realizing that Ryouga had a snowball's chance in hell of finding Ranko in under a week, she had decided to deliver the message herself. Having eaves dropped on Fa Shen and Ranko, when they spoke with Cologne about using the secret training ground, Akane had picked up the directions to the hidden valley. 

            As she slipped through the thick trees blocking the entrance to the cleft leading into the high ridged valley, Akane heard voices call out in alarm, followed by a long blast on some kind of horn. Shrugging, she pressed on, darting through the narrow, water-cut chute so oddly reminiscent of the famous Antelope Path in North America. As she burst through the foliage covering the exit, she paused on the elevated rim looking down into the center of the training ground, where she could make out Ranko dropping to the ground in the same fashion that Fa Shen had at the conclusion of her battle with copy-Ranma. Like Fa Shen, she plummeted straight out of the sky, breaking centimeters from impact by releasing a massive sphere of chi, like a bomb detonating at ground level. While the red-head oriented herself, reacting to the alert from the valley's sentries, Akane sprinted down the slope towards her. As she drew close, Akane noticed that the girl was flushed and sweaty, surrounded by a fiery aura. Instead of the usual brilliant gold of confidence Akane was used to, this aura eerily mimicked true flame, shifting from a thin root of electric blue, through violet, deep purple, blood red, orange, gold and white, shot through with streamers of hot pink. In addition, it gave off a sensual, engulfing heat that made Akane's flesh grow taut while her mind wanted to roll over backwards and pant in submission. 

            "What…? What is this?" Akane gasped, once she was close enough to speak. 

            "Akane! What are you going here!" Ranko moaned, hugging herself tight in an obvious struggle for control. She had been at the very edge of losing it since she began to convert the supercharged ki into chi that could be channeled into boosting her physical attributes and special attacks. Climbing out of the crater created by the "Vengeance of Heaven—Thunder Bomb" technique, she split her attention. While she confronted Akane, she sent an impulse to Ranma and Fa Shen warning them to pause what they were doing. "You shouldn't be spying on me! Don't you know this area is off limits!"

            "What?" Akane blinked. "I'm not spying…"

            "Then go back to the village. I don't want you to get hurt!" Ranko interrupted. 

            "I can take care of myself! Why do you always act like you have to watch over me!?" Akane demanded, falling instantly into suspicion as she sensed that Ranko was just trying to brush her off. "What the hell are you doing, Ranko? This isn't your normal aura! You don't look like you can even control this!" 

            Ranko grit her teeth. "If those two would just stop for a minute, that wouldn't be a problem," she muttered under her breath, wiping sweat from her brow. From the corner of her eye, she could see a group of sentries burst into view, headed toward Ranko and the intruding Akane. "I'm fine, Akane. A martial-artist has to push her limits in order to get better. You should know that," Ranko retorted. Squirming at the intense heat that was being trapped against her body by the insulation of silk clothing. When she stopped being Ranma, she had taken to wearing an athletic halter or a bra for support, so she hastily pulled her shirt over her head and slipped it off. In the process, the compact she had tucked into her waist band was jerked out with her shirt tails, tumbling to the ground at Akane's feet. By the time Ranko realized what the sound of it hitting the ground meant, Akane had snatched it up.

            "What are you carrying this thing around for?" Akane demanded, automatically flipping it open.

            "Akane! Don't!" Ranko cried, holding out her hands. One held up gesturing for her to halt, before she could pat it on the back, the other stretched out to receive the mirror trap as she demanded, "Give it back, Akane."

            The fear and desperation suddenly on Ranko's face was enough to confirm to Akane that the other girl was up to something. Unable to imagine what nefarious purposes Ranko could have for the mirror, she arrogantly slapped the back of the open mirror, to satisfy her curiosity and annoyance. "I don't see what you're all worried about. What could you  possible put in here that I would…" Akane's words of dismissal cut off in a squeak of utter disbelief. There on the ground before her, naked and intertwined in the most intimate way, were Ranma and Fa Shen. All four teens remained frozen in shock and horror, as the amazon sentries closed in on them. Before they could get close enough to make out all the details, Ranko shook herself, and hissed at her twins, "Quick! Get your clothes on! People are coming!" 

            In a flash, Ranma and Fa Shen scooped up the clothes that had fallen out of the mirror with them. A copy of the Kama Sutra was left lying in the dirt. They lost a second when they realized that they had both grabbed their own clothes, forgetting for a moment that they had switched bodies. After trading piles, they scrambled to get dressed before the witnesses arrived. 

            Akane, however, had remained stock still, her mind whirling around the image that was burnt into her retinas. Thanks to Nabiki, she knew exactly what the book at her feet represented. Her older sister had threatened to sell it to Akane's fiancé as a "training manual" to be used with his curse. She had swallowed the necessity of Ranma sleeping with Fa Shen to heal Ranko. That did not mean she had any tolerance for the notion of them continuing to do so. Especially not with the frequency suggested by any attempt to master the Kama Sutra! The first hint of motion from her, Akane began to tremble with rage. Just as the red-headed boy staggered to his feet, Akane cut loose. Balling her fist low, she twisted toward him as she brought her arm up in a long, sweeping hay-maker. Catching her "fiancé" on the chin, she launched him high into the air. "You BASTARD!" she screamed, glaring hatefully after him. 

            "Akane!" Ranma, in Fa Shen's skin, cried out in agonized shock. She held out her hand to her, "Wait! You don't understand!"

            Akane turned on her with a look of enraged contempt. "Don't. You. Dare," she hissed. 

            "Please, Akane. Let us explain," Ranko stepped forward. 

            "What's to explain, Ranko!? You were covering for them!" Akane shrieked. 

            "I told you not to…"

            "Shut up!" Akane's voice dropped, along with her head, as tears raced down her cheeks. "I can't believe you. All of you! How could you…?" Akane twitched and brutally slapped the twin's hands away as they tried once more to reach out to her. "Don't! Don't touch me!"

            Fa Shen had pulled himself together, shaking his head to clear his vision, and gotten back to his feet. As he cautiously returned to where Ranma and Ranko were trying to get through to Akane, the sentries arrived, forming a loose circle around the four teens. 'Shit. How are we supposed to explain with them listening in?' he wondered in frustration. Taking a step toward Akane, he opened, "I know what it looks like, Akane. It's okay to be mad. But you have to trust us…"

            "Trust you!?" Akane whirled on him again. "Are you insane!?"

            "Please," Fa Shen begged, stretching his hand out to touch hers. 

            Akane shuddered, and what was left of her sanity shattered. She exploded into violent motion. Following the first knee to the groin, Fa Shen was in no condition to do anything about the next hundred blows except twitch and groan. When Ranma and Ranko attempted to restrain her, she whipped around, hissing and yowling, and clawed at their arms and faces. Akane, turned human wild-cat, was enough to make both girls stumble back in shock, feeling an echo of their phobia stirring inside them. Finally, Fa Shen stopped moving and the sentries grabbed Akane and subdued her. 

            The sentries studied the twin girls and clucked, "You should know better. You interfere in challenge you get hurt." As the others picked up Akane, the speaker went on, "We take man-girl back to village. Maybe you two convince Ranma she give Tomboy kiss now. This one look pretty upset after be rejected last time." That was evidence that the earlier confrontation between Ranma and Akane had been gossiped through the entire village already. With a jaunty salute, the detachment of sentry women marched off, carrying Akane between them. 

            From the ground, Fa Shen's moaning announced his return to consciousness. 

            "I don't believe it," Ranma groaned in despair. What were the odds that Akane would home in on the three of them the instant they attempted to engage the circuit, get her hands on the compact, and catch them right in the act? 

            "So much for avoiding Akane," Ranko griped.  

In spite of the fact that they had been interrupted, Ranma and Fa Shen had obviously traded places during their liaison. With the circuit broken, there was no further need for them to remain in the training ground. As far as Ranko channeling the power the trinity tapped into went, the experiment had been a success. That did not make what happened feel any less like a disaster. At least Akane had been the only witness to Ranma and Fa Shen's debauchery. The sentries had been too distracted by the fight itself to pick up on what it was really about. Not that their opinion of the fight helped matters any. When the trio returned to the village, the looks they got, especially the male Fa Shen, assured them that the details of this second battle between "Ranma" and Akane had been passed on. Worse, the village girls pounced on him and dragged him to the guard hut where Akane had been laid out to recover from being knocked out by the sentries. Fa Shen, having no idea how to explain who he really was, was busy trying to extract himself from the girls when Akane stepped out of the hut. Her confusion, at waking up in a strange place, evaporated the instant she saw Fa Shen. 

            "Ranma!" she snarled and stormed forward. 

            "Wait! Akane! I'm not…" was all Fa Shen could get out before she clocked him. 

            Fa Shen sailed back about five meters, ripped right out of the hands of the girls that had pushed him at Akane to deliver his kiss. He crashed through the wall of a hut, coming to rest under a cast iron cauldron that hung from a hook in the kitchen he had entered. With a faint shriek, the hook gave way and the pot crashed down on his head. With a loud gong, he was out cold. 

            As Akane grunted in satisfaction and stormed away with her nose in the air, Ranma and Ranko climbed through the rubble to check on Fa Shen. 

            "I guess she didn't know she won the last fight," an observer commented in Mandarin. 

            "Maybe she expected him to propose or something, before he kissed her," another replied. "You know those foreign customs they talk about. Outsiders sure seem to do things the hard way."

            "I don't know. From the look of her, I think she's pretty pissed off. Maybe she thinks she won't have to marry him if he can't give her the kiss," a third proposed. 

            "I can remember an outsider male doing that before," the first nodded. 

            "True! It is hard to give the kiss to a man… er, challenger… if he's strong enough to beat you and doesn't want to get married," the second laughed. "Maybe the Elders will have to intervene."

            The other two shrugged, and the third pointed out, "No. The Elders will give Ranma a few days to try on his own." She frowned, "You know, we're all forgetting to call him 'her'. I wish we didn't have to treat a hunk like that as a female. It just seems like such a waste."

            There was a round of sighs and nods, as they turned to watch Ranma and Ranko drag Fa Shen out of the ruined kitchen. With a wave, one of the other witnesses drew the twin girl's attention and smirked at them, declaring in Japanese, "Ranma very lucky! Husband-to-be VERY strong! You train right, she be good warrior. Is too too bad she have man-spirit."

            "Uh…" the twins gaped. 

            The last speaker's companion, a male, cleared his throat and approached cautiously. Bending his head and speaking softly to Fa Shen, sparing a nervous glance at the twins, "I know you are a woman inside…" The burst of giggling from Ranma and Ranko made him jump back. Ranko sobered instantly and caught him with a hand, offering a look of apology, before he could retreat further. Swallowing, he resumed, "As an honorary woman, you ARE entitled to take a wife. Even if she is mannish, that one is female. She might respond better if you approached her as a prospective wife instead of a prospective husband." That advice given, he shrugged, bowed and excused himself to return to his own wife. 

            Ranko and Ranma sighed. 

            "Makes you proud to be an amazon, doesn't it?" Fa Shen spat bitterly. 

            The pair looked down at him. 

            Fa Shen struggled upright and shrugged their supporting hands away. "I know. That sounds odd coming from a native amazon maiden, but the fact is, I've never liked amazon men. How can you be attracted to someone whose spirit has been broken?" he challenged. 

            "But…"

            "That's your feelings?" Ranko cut in, surprised. "I thought those were my feelings imposed on your memories. But…" she picked up on what Ranma had been about to say. "If you don't approve of it, why did you stay with the amazons?"

            Fa Shen sighed and stared at them. "Why do you think? I may have hated the way we broke our men, but I was a lot more afraid of the way outsiders broke their women. Since I didn't want to be a man, I had to stay where a woman could live up to her full potential," he explained. Rubbing his head, he changed the subject, "Well. That's three times Akane's made a spectacle. She's too pissed off at us to remember what I told her this morning. What are we going to do about her?"

            "What I want to know is what we're going to do about this," Ranma countered, holding one hand to her chest, with the other pressed to Fa Shen's. "I mean, do we explain to Akane about the merging and stuff? Will that make a difference?"

            "Well, it's not like you were doing it for the reason she thinks," Ranko pointed out.

            "No, that's just a bonus…" Ranma scowled guiltily. 

            Fa Shen shook his head, "I don't think we'd have to explain about the power up. Just the fact that it let's us change places—that doing that now was so we could master the curses—is more than enough justification." 

            "Or, do we simply avoid her until you've both succeeded?" Ranko aired. When they looked at her to explain, she nudged them both to get them walking. Once they were moving again, this time headed out of the village, she continued, "Unless we want everyone figuring out about the swap, I don't think it's a good idea for you to spend a lot of time in each other's places. At least, not if we're gonna be hangin' around here all the time. From what you said originally, Fa Shen, this method works right away, or it takes months. So, what do you think? If you haven't mastered the curses by tomorrow, do you two think you should switch back?"

            Ranma and Fa Shen traded meaningful glances before nodding. Fa Shen added, "I suppose we could try it once a week switched, and make the trade at night while everyone else is sleeping. I know you can't practice with the circuit that way, but what you did today is probably enough for now, right?"

            Ranko nodded, "Sure. I should focus more on damping the power, limiting it to something more practical." The conversion of ki to chi was a bit overwhelming. A tiny bit of ki turned into an awesome amount of chi, she had discovered. If that had not caused her to overheat, she would have been able to keep her shirt on, and would never have dropped the compact. She could have stuffed the mirror into her shadow with the hidden weapon's technique, but on the off chance that her experiment turned fatal, she did not want the compact holding Ranma and Fa Shen to be lost with her. Thanks to Happosai using that threat to hold half of her friends and family hostage, Ranko was very aware of the danger. Suddenly, she jerked her head up and swore, "Dammit! Akane has the stupid mirror!"

            "What!?"

            "Just before she hit Fa Shen, she slipped it into her skirt pocket," Ranko explained. 

            Ranma hit herself on the head. "Great. We're going to need that to switch back tonight. If we did… that… in the open, every psycho and their mother will trip over us right in the middle of it!"

            "Well, I suppose we could just steal it back, right?" Fa Shen asked. 

            "From Akane?" Ranma bawled in disgust. "You know she's barricading herself in her room or something right now! Even if I used the Umisen-ken, some how, she's gonna end up poundin' the crap outta me!" She danced through part of a vigorous kata to burn off the surge of frustration. 

            "Well, better you than me, right?" Fa Shen smirked, when she dropped back into a walk. 

            "Ha, ha," Ranma scowled. 

            "But, do we have a choice?" Ranko asked. 

            "We could just go somewhere far away, like the hot springs at Jusenkyo. Take a few days off for training, focus all our attention on mastering the curses, switch back when we're done, then come back. It can't take me more than three days to beat this thing," Ranma declared confidently. 

            "True, but that means Ryouga will show up, and unless we tell everyone that's where we will be—which is like begging them to come—Akane will get it in her head to visit the hot springs. Or someone else will show up, like Herb and his cronies, Taro, some random wandering prince in search of a wife…" Ranko sighed. "That's the sort of thing that happened every single time I've gone training, when I was you."

            There was a chorus of sighs. 

            Ranma ran her hands roughly through her hair, worn long and loose, since she was posing as Fa Shen. "Okay, this is one time the Saotome Secret Technique isn't going to work. If we can't retreat to sort things out, what does that leave? A frontal assault?"

            "Well, we can't go in and beat her up…" Ranko tried to point out.

            "Why not?" Fa Shen interrupted. Ranma and Ranko stared at him in shock. "What? Maybe you can't do it, but after these last two beatings, I'm not feeling all that protective of her. When she kneed me like that, I thought my guts were going to explode! I am so tempted to throw her in the Nanniichuan so I can return the favor!"

            "Don't even joke about that!" Ranma growled dangerously. 

            Fa Shen glared at her, "Who said I was joking? I am tempted. Just stating a fact. But that's not what I had in mind. She's always been after you to fight her for real, well, you might not be able to stomach it, but I could. I don't plan to maim her or kill her, but I can keep her distracted while the two of you go after the mirror."

            "You've gotta be kidding. What makes you think she'll fight you?"

            "Right now? Getting her to fight me won't be the problem. It's getting through it without forcing the marriage thing forward that's the real challenge," Fa Shen admitted. 

            "Do you think you can manage it?" Ranko asked, beginning to take the idea seriously.

            "Well, she's an outsider, so it doesn't mean anything if I win."

            "Would that kill the kiss of marriage thing?" Ranma asked.

            "Well, a woman can challenge her potential husband, force him to prove he really is better, and that he didn't win by a fluke, remember? Akane is good at getting the drop on you, Ranma, but most warriors can tell she is not that good at martial arts. She's 3 for 0 against you, but a serious win by you, or rather me, would put her claim in question," Fa Shen confirmed. 

            "Okay, that's actually a decent idea. I don't like the idea of you knocking her out, but, I trust you to do it without really hurting her," Ranma conceded unhappily. Taking a deep breath, she turned off the path and began cutting through the undergrowth.

            "Ranma? Where are you going?" Ranko asked. 

            "The river. I'm still all messy from the swap," she replied over her shoulder. Ranko and Fa Shen looked at each other and shrugged. Following Ranma, they made their way to the river. As they caught up to her, Ranma smiled, "It's actually been a while since I've gone skinny dipping. I found a great spot for it down here the last time I went for a walk."

            "Couldn't find a bridge to sit under?" Ranko asked, with half a smile. 

            "Actually, there is this fallen tree that spans the pool. It's not a bad place to think."


	3. Part Three

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Three

With an uncanny eye for natural beauty, Ranma had homed in on the ideal wilderness retreat. The river was one of the root tributaries of the Yellow River, cutting through a narrow, wooded valley outside of the Amazon Village. The pool Ranma had mentioned sat in a steep depression between two bends in the water course, at the base of a two-meter fall. The pool was ringed with medium to large boulders poking their heads and shoulders up out of the water, the largest positioned perfectly for diving into the deep end. Though the river was cool enough to shock, the trio had become completely inured to cold water as a result of both upbringing and the privilege of having a curse. Since it was just themselves, there really was no need to play at modesty; they eagerly stripped down and ran laughing and hollering towards the pool. After a short pause, while Fa Shen and Ranma scooped up handfuls of water to wash themselves on the riverbank, they all bounded up to the highest boulder and took a dive. More than they craved the peace of this beautiful, isolated retreat, they had longed for the simple pleasure of being in a group that had nothing more serious to worry about than play. For about an hour, they all reverted mentally and emotionally to about the age of seven, and had the time of their lives. For once, there were no curses, no fiancées, no rivals or challengers or such to interfere. The first were all safely locked, the second, third and fourth were all avoiding them, lost—a distant voice in the woods cried out, "Where the hell am I NOW!?"—or tied up in other things. 

            It was a relief just forget about all the problems, of that day and the whole trip to China. In fact, the would have continued to indulge in this carefree abandon if something unexpected had not brought them immediately back to reality. It happened as they progressed from a three way water fight to Ranma and Fa Shen double teaming Ranko in an attempt to dunk her under water. In the midst of thrashing around in an effort to flee from their grip, Ranko suddenly realized that all the hands assaulting her were masculine. Her startled pause was enough for the two boys to shove her under the surface. Ranko flipped under water, swimming deeper and then away from the pair to get away. Breeching the surface at a safe distance, Ranko sucked in a deep breath and turned to stare at them. 

            "Ranma!" she yelped, finally expressing her shock. 

            "What?" he replied, grinning aloofly. 

            "You're a boy!" she announced, raising an arm above the water to point. 

            "Wha…!?" he twitched, his hands moving instantly under the water to test this theory. With a startled gasp, he began to sink beneath the surface. Spluttering, he started to tread water again and cried, "Hey! When did that happen? I wasn't even… I totally forgot about trying to…"

            "Ohmygod. She's right!" Fa Shen blurted, after studying Ranma's face carefully. Their facial features changed so little that, now that their hair was always red, it was almost impossible to tell what sex they were from the shoulders up. It took a careful eye to pick up the slight strengthening of the jaw or faint broadening of the face that made it merely handsome, instead of beautiful. "What did you do, Ranma? I mean," he waved a hand helplessly, "what were you thinking? When did it happen? Didn't you even feel it?"

            "Er…" Ranma left his mouth hanging, while he tried to think. 

            "And how many times have I changed and not even noticed it?" Ranko challenged, swimming slowly back towards them. Frowning, she added, "It must have just happened, though. I mean, when you two first jumped me, Ranma still had breasts."

            "Uh…" Ranma blushed and sank a little lower in the water. 

            "Ranma?" Fa Shen turned toward him, faint confusion and dawning suspicion. 

            "It's not like that…" Ranma was instantly on the defensive. 

            "What?" Ranko looked at them. They were studying her intently, but there was something different in their expressions. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

            "I'm surprised we didn't think of this earlier," Fa Shen commented to Ranma. He blushed and looked down. To answer Ranko's confusion, Fa Shen added, "You just said, it had to have happened when we were struggling together. When Ranma was touching you."

            Ranko squirmed. "So?"

            "So…" Ranma huffed, sliding diagonally toward the ring of boulders and away from Ranko, "you still bring out the boy in me." As Ranko gaped at him, mouth open to protest, but unable to say anything, he sighed. "Maybe it's just that, I dunno, when one of us is a boy, it brings out the girl in the other, and when one of us is a girl, it brings out the boy. But, I'm more of a boy, right? So, when we're both girls, you bring out the boy in me."

            "So, you mean…" Ranko tried, hesitantly.

            "It all balances out," Fa Shen murmured thoughtfully, not intending to cut Ranko off. On impulse, he slid over toward Ranma. To his discomfort, Fa Shen wrapped his arms around the other boy and pressed himself close. A few heartbeats later, he was a she. Leaning back, to look into Ranma's startled eyes, she laughed, "Wow. I never thought it would be this easy!"

            "But still…" Ranko tried again.

            "That's it? We've mastered the curses?" Ranma demanded in surprise. 

            Fa Shen shrugged. "It's supposed to be hardest to do the first time, but we will have to try switching back to find out if we've really mastered them," she corrected. 

            "Hey! I'm trying to say something here!" Ranko shouted at them. 

            The other two jerked around to stare back into her glare. "What?"

            "I was just…" again, Ranko trailed off. Swallowing, she composed herself, firming her resolve to try once more. "You… When you were… Well, back there, y'know," she gestured to where they had dunked her, "…you turned into a guy because you were touching me. But… I mean, why? You weren't… you know, THINKING of anything like…" She could not say it, she just looked at him helplessly. 

            "Like Copy-kun, that first time in the bath?" Fa Shen offered, helpfully. As the one who had absorbed that reflection, she remembered all too well what the first personality of the male reflection felt about his cursed original. At Ranko's blushing nod, Fa Shen turned to Ranma, prompting him with a look. 

            With a nervous laugh, he kicked under water, to propel himself back a bit. "Hey, you can't blame a guy for thinkin' like that! I mean, you were a guy, Fa Shen, I wasn't gonna be thinking that way because of you right then, was I?"

            "So, you wanted to…" Ranko pressed, fidgeting. 

            "Hey, I wasn't plannin' on anything! I'm in enough trouble as it is, without sleepin' with you too!"

            "Ranma!" Fa Shen snapped, noticing the way Ranko's face went blank. 

            "What?" he turned, receiving a face full of water from Fa Shen. 

            "You're being an insensitive jerk!" the original amazon cried. 

            "No, Fa Shen! That's okay…" Ranko tried to dismiss it. 

            "It is not okay!" Fa Shen turned toward her. 

            "What the hell… Come on, guys, you're confusin' the hell outta me!"

            "Geez, you really are a boy!" Fa Shen declared in exasperation. "You'd think, with your first and second time both as a girl, you'd have a clue!"

            "Please, Fa Shen. This really isn't necessary. I was just curious…"

            "Well, that's the point, isn't it?" she turned to her twin. "You've felt it all, inside and out, three times through us, but you still haven't done it. I'd be curious too!"

            Ranko blushed, at this. When Ranma turned to stare at her, comprehension finally dawning on his face, she held her breath and sank out of sight. 

            "Ranko?" Ranma swam towards her. As he got close, she just dove down deeper. 

            "Way to go, Stud," Fa Shen snorted, pushing off from a boulder and beginning a lap across the pool. As she stroked through the water, she frowned in thought. She had been conscious of the fact that Ranko was, thanks to her and Ranma, the most experienced virgin on the planet. The absurdity of the situation, this exploitation of sex to tap into power, had begun in order to save Ranko's life, but it had done a lot more than that. The trading places, and the experimenting with the power of the circuit, was the excuse she and Ranma used to indulge their physical attraction. It kept them from freaking out about what they were doing. But sex was weird like that. However much shame they might feel, because of who they were more than what they were doing, the act itself was like a drug. Fa Shen and Ranma had made a silent pact, the best they could come up with to resist that drug, to leave Ranko out of the messy part. But now, Fa Shen had to ask herself if that was fair to Ranko? 

Fa Shen reached the other side of the pool and clung to a submerged rock. The answer to the question was obvious. "She feels shut out," Fa Shen sighed in misery. 

            Ranma, who had swam up next to her, heard that and confessed, "It ain't fair. But it's not really right, either. I don't think I can separate sex and love, an' dammit, how can I not love her? But I don't need Akane to make me see that it's really perverted. How can I do the right thing for Ranko and be sure I am really doing the right thing?"

            At the far end of the pool, Ranko finally surfaced, arching her head back to slick her hair away from her face. With a glance over her shoulder at Ranma and Fa Shen, she dragged herself up on a boulder, then bounded away upstream. 

A kilometer up the river, it struck Ranko that she was racing through the woods naked and no one was trying to pursue her. Coming to a stop, and shifting her hands to cover herself, she turned carefully to scan the surrounding wilderness, cursing herself under her breath. In the heat of the moment, it had seemed like a good idea to put some distance between herself and her siblings, but it was rather stupid to rush off and leave her clothes behind. On retrospect, the whole scenario was pretty stupid. Fa Shen was not entirely wrong about the effect Ranma and Fa Shen's intimacy had on her. Until her reflections had come out of the mirror, she had been extremely naïve about sex. Thanks to Copy-chan and Copy-kun's obsession with "making love" Ranko had become aware of her own sexual awakening, a path she had started down as a boy, that she had innocently continued on as a girl. Because of the curse, she had faced a serious obstacle to understanding sex, since she assumed all of the innuendo thrust at her by guys like Hiroshi and Daisuke had been a disgusting attempt to poke fun at her, as Ranma. In her ignorance, she could not take what they said seriously, and faced with constant accusations of perversion from Akane, she had not even been comfortable asking anyone else if there was any truth to the lewd interactions of her friends' depictions of intercourse. Now that she knew for certain what all the fuss was about, having gained a better insight into sex than any person outside of her trinity could hope to gain, the problem had been that she was not in a position to experience sex for herself. At least, not without some serious complications. 

            Initially, she had been relieved that neither Ranma nor Fa Shen had expressed an interest in including her completely in their adventures. Ranko was still having a hard enough time with the fact that she was conscious of every detail of copy-Ranko and Ranma's night with Ryouga, after she claimed the memory and the emotional impulses of that during the second fusion. Sex with either of her siblings would be safe, but the troubling question was, where could something like that lead? So far, what Ranma and Fa Shen had, while involving sex, had not been exclusively about or for sex. Each time they had fused, it had been to accomplish some other objective. The first time was to cure her. The second time was so that Ranma and Fa Shen could reclaim their own bodies, after being switched that first time. This third time had been to see if they could master their curses, and that had been quickly and unexpectedly successful. But, anything intimate between Ranko and them would be, exclusively, about sex. The minute that happened, Akane was wholly justified in her reaction to them. It would be a betrayal. It would be them choosing each other, themselves, over anyone else. Maybe if there was no one else, that would not matter, but…

            "Ryouga would go insane," she breathed. 

            Taking a deep breath, she sat down on a flat boulder and curled her arms around her knees. Just after the battle with the Musk at Jusenkyo, Ranko and Ryouga had gone off together to discuss their relationship. The evening before the fight, they had reached the climax of their misunderstanding, when they both believed they had been rejected by the other. Ryouga had made a desperate attempt to renew things with Ranma, coming on to the recently restored boy in her new female form. Ranma pushed her off, being aware of Ranko's true feelings, and chewed Ryouga out for spurning Ranko. Of course, Ranko had witnessed the kiss and missed everything after that, fleeing from the heart-shattering scene. This in turn sent Ryouga into an explosive depression, reactivating the residue of her Heitonniichuan curse and tying the trigger to the heavy chi of her depression. Clearing the air between them had done a lot to raise Ryouga's spirits above the point where he was turning into a pig every time he turned around. They had agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, despite the fact that it was anyone's guess when who would be what, but because Ryouga had defeated Ranko—at the time as Ranma—and Ranko had declared her love, kissed him and then had sex with him—through her reflection—they were married by amazon law. That was a level of commitment neither of them were ready for. The only way out of it was to exploit a technicality of the law. They pointed out that Copy-Ranko was no longer a direct extension of Ranko, since Ranma took possession of that body. As far as Ranko was officially concerned, that night had not happened, so the marriage was reduced to a potential claim. 

            As far as amazon law was concerned, they were simply engaged. To preserve that condition, there were three things Ranko had to avoid. She could not kiss him. She could not declare her love for him. She could not sleep with him. The first two technically invoked the marriage, the third sealed it. So, the only other person she was inclined to have sex with was off limits to her. 

            "Dammit!" she cursed. 

            The sexual tension was torturing her. That was the reason why her heart had begun pounding, and her body began to betray her, as soon as she realized that Ranma had actually been thinking about her sexually. Her life had suddenly become filled with impulses to arousal, but left her only the most basic level of release. At first, it had been easy to ignore the temptation of her sibling selves. They showed no interest in her that way, and they avoided indulging in each other without a justifiable reason to exploit the trinity. They were as safe as any brother and sister. But now, it would take a lot more will power to keep her hands to herself around them. She also had to be more cautious about letting them lay hands on her. She did not think her will was strong enough to stop anything past that point. 

            "And that's just like with Ryouga," she complained. 

            "Ranko?" 

            "Gyaaaa!" she leapt straight up, and clung to an overhanging branch. Focusing on the boy who emerged from the bushes, dressed solely in boxers and a towel draped over his shoulder, she glared. "Ryouga! What the hell are you doing, lurking in the bushes? And why are you in your underwear?"

            "Sorry. I was on my way to the bath. I've been wandering in Cologne's atrium all morning looking for the way out, so I could go looking for you," he explained sheepishly. Taking a good look at her, and then pinching his nose tight, he squeaked, "How come you don't have ANY clothes on?"

            "Er…" she dropped out of the branches and slunk down into the water, using the river to conceal her nudity. With a look of strained patience, she pointed out, "Cologne's house doesn't have an atrium, idiot. You're in the woods outside of the village. There's a pool down that way where I was swimming with Ranma and Fa Shen. I wandered off to think and forgot to grab my clothes. Now, what were you looking for me for?"

            Ryouga scanned up and down the stream, allowing her remarks to sink in, before dredging up what he needed to tell her about. "Ah. Yeah. Well… I was looking for the bath when… You say this is not an atrium? I guess that explains how Lime and Mint got in… er… out. Whatever. The thing is, they're training Mousse!"

            "Huh?" Ranko frowned, pulling her eyes away from a hungry appraisal of the lost boy's muscular body, and focused on his face. "What did you say!?"

            "I said, Mousse was with Lime and Mint. They were training together when I stumbled across them. From what I heard, he's giving them information on Fa Shen, to give to Herb for their next fight, and they are training him for his fight with you!" he elaborated. 

            Ranko proceeded to curse like a deranged dock worker. On her third or fourth long breath, she ran out of invective and was reduced to smashing her hands through the water. On the bank, Ryouga stared at her. He had recognized slang and epithets from at least seven languages in her tirade. It was the best evidence to date that she really had grown up on the road with just Genma for company. Ranko caught his expression, and fell still and silent. Clearing her throat, she responded to his raised eyebrow with a shrug, saying, "Sorry. I don't usually curse, but… I do remember all the things that have been shouted at me an' Pops by people who were really pissed. Of course, I don't usually get really pissed." 

            "Hey, no complaints from me. We already knew Mousse was serious about this, but…" he shrugged and gave her a longing look. Forcing his eyes to cool and meet hers, he resumed, "Even if we sealed the marriage, he'd still be able to challenge you. Amazon male's privilege, right?"

            "That blind, arrogant bastard," Ranko grumbled. 

            "Not that it'll help him if he wins. I promised you, I won't let Shampoo get me into a fight. I don't think he'd risk challenging you if Shampoo isn't somehow part of the package," he comforted. She sighed and relaxed. With a smile, Ryouga shifted his towel and gestured toward her, "Well, I missed the bath by a long shot, but I suppose the river here will do just as good, right?" He hung his towel off of a nearby branch, knelt at the edge of the water, and splashed himself with water. With a shudder and a gasp at the cold, she slipped off her boxers, tossed them on top of the towel, and joined Ranko in the water. "So, you were saying something about me when I found you. What was that about?" Ryouga asked casually. 

            Ranko sighed, but saw no reason to be dishonest. "It's kinda depressing…"

            "That's okay. I'm safe in the water. It'll change me back as fast as I can turn into a pig. I've been actually using that to break myself out of depression fits," she smiled. Having dropped her bath kit somewhere in her wandering, she scooped up a handful of sand in place of soap. It was ironic that water had actually become her ally against the pig curse. The change into a pig usually burned up all the heavy chi that triggered it, and shook her out of her depression. The pig curse no longer reversed itself, but the triggers for the girl curse that replaced it both worked. In hot water, she still reverted to a boy, and in cold water she became a girl, both overriding the chi curse. Of course, Ryouga was really good at getting depressed. She could get on a roll where she turned into a pig as quickly as the pig could get turned back human. Sitting in water, while trying to break her shishihokodan conditioning, was giving her the edge she needed to master her heavier emotions. 

            Ranko nodded, offering a supporting grin. "I am glad to hear that, Ryou-chan. I guess you won't find it as depressing…" she grimaced. "It's really just frustrating as hell. I was thinking about what we can't do," she confessed, not caring how much it implied that she really wanted to do it. 

            Ryouga paused and studied her. Then, she resumed scrubbing herself with sand, and murmured, "It's all up to you, Ranko. I am ready for it whenever you are. I'm not going to be like your old fiancées. I want it to be your choice, not something forced on you." The breathless euphoria of that first night with copy-Ranko had been severely strained by the conflicts that followed. The break up with Ranma had been murder on Ryouga's heart, but she'd been saved by gaining a second chance with the genuine Ranko. Ryouga was not taking any chances on screwing things up between them. To that end, Ryouga had not come too close to Ranko when their genders were flipped. Being the same sex did not erase all the chemistry between them, but it gave them both a degree of control. That was important, since Ryouga did not know if she could stop anything that got started between them. That was not so bad, but she dreaded the possibility of Ranko regretting it afterward. 

            "Thanks, Ryouga. It's nice to have a choice," she hugged the other girl, adding to herself, 'Even if it's already been made.' The only problem with that was, she was so new to her own life, she did not know if she was qualified to make a decision that would affect her entire future. She had a lot to learn about who she was, apart from Fa Shen and Ranma. She did not know if she would still be the person who fell in love with Ryouga when she was done learning. If there was any chance they would not end up together, it was better for Ryouga if they did not go too far before she broke away. 

When Ryouga finished bathing, Ranko felt she had collected her wits enough to face her siblings. Taking the lost girl by the hand, after finding her towel and boxers for her, Ranko led the way down river to where Ranma and Fa Shen were, to retrieve her clothes. Arriving at the pool, she discovered that Ranma and Fa Shen had dressed and left, leaving her clothes neatly folded and warmed in the sun on a rock. Slipping into her halter, panties and pants, she offered her shirt to Ryouga, who shook her head and calmly wrapped the towel around herself. With her smaller stature, that was enough to cover everything from her chest to her upper thigh. With a shrug, Ranko finished dressing and set out in search of her twins. Unless she straightened things out with them, the earlier embarrassment would drive a wedge between her and them, and that could not be allowed to happen. Besides, she was curious to find out if they had full mastery over the curses, following the initial success at asserting their normal genders in each other's bodies. Until she found them, though, she had to push that thought out of her mind, or it would slip out and betray their secret to Ryouga. 

            "So, Ryouga," she decided on a tangent to her thought. "Have you been thinking about getting control over your girl curse?"

            Ryouga, keeping her eyes locked on Ranko's back as she led the way out of the woods, scratched her head and nodded. "I'm more concerned about the pig curse, but getting control of the other curse might make more sense. Besides, I might need control over my human forms more. I was thinkin' about the fights with Herb, and what happened during the search for the Kaisuifuu," she shuddered. Back when they first confronted Prince Herb and his goons, Ranko had gotten locked in female form in punishment for challenging the dragon prince. Ryouga and Mousse had joined her on a quest for the cure, but their real goal had been to get their hands on the Chisuiiton, believing it could lock them in their normal forms. What they had not known was that the magic ladle chilled the water used to lock a person's form, meaning it triggered their curses and locked them as a pig and a duck. Ranko, of course still Ranma at the time, had fought Herb to distract him while Ryouga and Mousse went after the kettle, urging them to change back to normal. That almost cost Ranma his manhood, but Ryouga had saved the day by rescuing the Kaisuifuu from the depths of the earth, where it had been lost as the battle shattered the mountain they were on. 

            "What, you don't think you can be locked in your pig form, do you?" Ranko winced. 

            "Well, no. Not directly. It's just, I need to have the other curse active to reverse my pig transformation. It doesn't have a reverse mechanism, so if I was locked as a girl, the next time I got depressed I'd be stuck as a pig," Ryouga pointed out miserably. 

            "Oh," Ranko wilted, realizing her boyfriend was correct. 

            "Yeah," Ryouga sighed, adjusting the bandanna around her head. Trying to keep her spirits up, she interjected, "But, according to Fa Shen, I should be able to master the curse, if I'm willing to risk being locked to do it. She was going to work on it with Ranma and, once she found a way to test the technique she was taught, she'd train me for the ordeal."

            Ranko nodded. "I suppose you wanna get a handle on your depression first, just in case," she tested, earning a nod from Ryouga. With a smile, and a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she confided, "Well, I think you're in luck. I'm pretty sure Fa Shen's figured something out. That's sorta what we were focusing on before you showed up."

            "Really? Well, let's go talk to her then!" Ryouga was instantly excited. 

            "On our way, Ryou-chan," Ranko smirked, linking hands with Ryouga and picking up the pace. While the new part-time girl clasped one hand to her chest, to keep the towel in place, Ranko lurched into ground devouring aerial bounds, dragging Ryouga along like a fluttering tail. They arrived at the perimeter to the village to hear all-too-familiar voices raised in dispute. With an aggravated sigh, Ranko growled, "Great. Ranma ran into Akane again. Come on, Ryouga, we better stop them before she starts throwing blows. Or other things."

            As they reached the disturbance, they were forced to fight their way through a crowd of amazons to reach the feuding pair. Emerging into the center of the mob, Ranko spotted Fa Shen—at least she assumed it was Fa Shen—holding her head in resignation. Slinking to her side, Ranko pried, "What set her off this time?" Her eyes were focused on where Ranma and Akane stood tensely across from each other, leaning in face to face, shouting over each other's voices to be heard.

            Fa Shen peeked out from behind her hands and then dropped them to her side. With a grimace of frustration, she shrugged, "It's not our fault. Ranma and I were talking to each other about… well, y'know… what happened at the river. Guess who walked by behind us at the worst possible time?"

            Ryouga cocked her head in puzzlement, "What did Ranma do to Akane?"

            "Who said Ranma did anything to her?" Ranko asked in a strained voice. A lot of things had changed, but at the drop of a hat, Ryouga was still quick to assume Ranma was at fault whenever Akane got worked up. Turning to Fa Shen, she dropped her voice and asked, "You don't mean…?"

            "Girl talk," Fa Shen warned Ryouga, making the female boy recoil automatically, and leaned in to whisper into Ranko's ear. "That's exactly what I mean. Your reactions to each other in the pool kinda pointed out that we've never seriously talked about sex with you. Uh, that is… both ways. I mean," she blushed, "We haven't been talking about the sex, or how we all feel about it. We avoided involving you in it, as much as possible. So, Ranma and I sat down to talk about having sex with you."

            Ranko gulped. 

            "Relax," Fa Shen sighed, shaking her a little. "It's kinda obvious you're curious, but it's not just that, or being horny. It occurred to me, after you left, that we don't know what would happen if we did… with you. We only know what happens if it's Ranma and I." 

            Ranko's eyes widened in understanding, "So, you were talking about an experiment…"

            "And Akane walked by," Fa Shen nodded. 

            Pulling back, speaking in a normal voice, she asked, "Okay, then what happened?"

            "Well, she clobbered him, of course," Fa Shen groaned. Gesturing to the crowd, she went on, "Right in front of witnesses, she cold-cocked him. Of course, that wasn't enough, she shook him awake and started ranting at him. Now everyone in the village thinks Ranma fantasizes about sleeping with you… and me," she blushed. Waving that off, "She actually accused him of doing it, but after her first accusation, I think the crowd got the idea that she's making assumptions and being jealous."

            "That's bad enough," Ranko squirmed, finally understanding the looks she had been getting. 

            "Akane thinks Ranma's sleeping with you two?" Ryouga snarled. 

            The red-headed girls nodded, sadly. 

            "You… you haven't been, though… right?" she panted, on the edge of shock. 

            "No! No I haven't!" Ranko shouted in panic. 

            "Oh." Ryouga sagged with relief, gulping, "Thank God." 

            Ranko turned a desperate look to Fa Shen, who shrugged and thought, 'Good thing you didn't have to lie there, Ranko. Kinda convenient that he assumed you spoke for both of us, too.' Turning back to her "brother" and his fiancée, she noted that they were past accusations and denials, all a confusion of incoherent noise as they drowned out each other's words, and had entered the deadly insult phase. "Get ready for it," she warned, as Akane's form was shrouded in a deep blue aura of rage. "Now, Ranma. Just like…" but Ranma had forgotten about the rage quenching technique Fa Shen had tried to teach him. He missed his cue, and all the chi was instinctively channeled into the fist Akane snapped under his jaw.

            "I HATE you!" Akane screamed, getting in the last word as the blow snapped Ranma's mouth closed with a teeth rattling click, a nice high pitched accent over the loud, dull smack of flesh on flesh.

            "STOOOOOOPIIIID T-OOOOooommmboooooooiiii…!" Ranma's dwindling retort echoed back. 

            The crowd craned their heads, hands up to shield out the sun, to follow Ranma's trajectory. A retrieval party was formed and ran off after him. Akane dusted her hands off, turned to glare hatefully at Ranko and Fa Shen, then stomped off toward the tournament field. 

            "Nice to see some things don't change," Ryouga quipped. 

            "Well, that's 5 and 0," Fa Shen muttered in disgust. 

            "What happened to the other plan?" Ranko demanded. 

            Fa Shen gestured at herself. "It's kinda hard for me to pass as Ranma at the moment, don't you think?" she challenged, archly. 

            "So, you two couldn't…" she trailed off, remembering Ryouga's presence. 

            "Nope. Stuck this way, same as before," Fa Shen admitted. That was enough to confirm what she and Ranma had discovered when they had tried to test their mastery of each other's curses. Their initial breakthrough had been helped along by their sexual polarity, but the same thing did not work in reverse. Shrugging, she added, "I have an idea, but it involves your help. I'll tell you about it later, okay?"

            Ranko nodded. 

            Ryouga, who had managed to piece the clipped conversation together and come up with something close to the truth, looked at Fa Shen, "Are you saying that it didn't work? What you were doing to master your curses?"

            Fa Shen studied the boy-girl. "You know, our experiment didn't work right for me and Ranma, but you might have more success. You should get your pig curse under control before trying it, though. You'd have to be locked to try this, you know," she counseled. 

            Ryouga nodded, "You're right. I don't wanna get locked as a pig."

            Ranko's stomach suddenly began to grumble. 

            "That reminds me," Fa Shen smirked, "we missed lunch."

            "And breakfast," Ryouga added for herself. 

            "Let's go eat!" Ranko began salivating, grabbing the other two and racing toward the Matriarch's house. On the way, Ranko and Fa Shen quickly explained the situation with Ranma and Akane, starting with the battle of the breakfast insult, and the tribe's interpretation of their conflict. Without explaining why, they told her that Akane's temper had blinded her to the consequences of beating Ranma. Although, since she had never given Ranma a chance to apologize, much less kiss her, they had so far only made a spectacle. Remembering Ranko's comments at the end of the last fight, Ryouga began to pry, curious to know what sort of plan Ranma and Fa Shen had cooked up to deal with Akane. Rather than let him know they intended to have Fa Shen stand in for Ranma, to challenge Akane's victories, Ranko changed the subject, "Fa Shen, can you lead Ryouga to the table? I should go fetch Ranma, I am sure he'd kill us if found out we'd eaten without him."


	4. Part Four

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Author's Note: **It's All In The Reflexes** focuses on a chain of events that is referred back to in the beginning of the official sequel to **Reflections**, **Refractions**, which is currently being plotted and written. I did not have a set length for **Reflexes**, just the idea of Akane going ballistic on Ranma and what the Amazons would think of that. Rather than make you, the readers, wait for **Refractions**, I decided to give you a little taste by exploring what started as a joke in the opening arc. Hopefully, it will be only 6-10 parts long. This also gives me some time to think about some of the responses I've been getting to **Reflections** of late. While **Reflections** could not avoid being confusing, the ending was rushed. I admit that. Try to remember, starting around Part Ten of **Reflections**, I surrendered to inspiration, with only token acknowledgement of other intentions or opinions. That opened the door for a lot of fun and interesting ideas to take root. The story really did not want to come to a close. I am not sure what I could or would change, if I fixed the ending, but most likely, I would expand the ending by a full volume (15 parts), giving a little more attention to the trip, the confrontations with Herb, and the evolution of relationships and curses. Note, I am not talking about changing the ending, just spacing things out a bit so that it makes a little more sense. I am just at the mulling over stage on that, so any comments or feedback would be appreciated. If I drastically revised or rewrote it, I would not have foundation for this story or **Refractions**. Of course, anyone who has stuck with me this far is obviously extremely tolerant and forgiving. I really appreciate that, and I am not going to insult that by gutting the story you've enjoyed thus far. 

So, on with the show!

A. V. Morgan

Part Four

On her way to retrieve Ranma, Ranko passed by a villager's kitchen window. Now, this should not have been anything to be concerned about, but several other factors applied. One, she was cursed to turn into a boy with hot water. Two, her boyfriend had a similar curse, and she had noticed that he was going out of his way to be a girl around her, which was very frustrating. Three, she had responded by leaving her curse unlocked, so she could respond by becoming male—what else could she do when her significant other refused to remain the opposite sex? Four, walking around with an active curse was tempting the gods of chance and chaos. Summed up, and in conclusion, the inhabitant of that hut chose the moment she walked by to toss out his dish water, dousing Ranko. Naturally, it was just hot enough to trigger her curse. Stopping, and looking down at himself in disgust, he paused to strip off his shirt to wring it out, squirming uncomfortably as the panties the former girl had been wearing proved much too tight and constricting for his present endowments. Fortunately, the halter top was a simple, cotton athletic bra, stretching flat and tight over his broad chest. But it looked pretty stupid, so he stripped that off, tucking it into his pocket before slithering back into the damp, silk shirt. 

            "I swear, I need to get my underwear cursed too!" he spat, shaking his head free of moisture.

            Making a mental note to check with Cologne, or the village archive, to see if there was any way to enchant panties and bras to turn into boxers and t-shirts, he shuffled on through the village. The last he saw, Ranma had been flying out of it towards the fields farmed by the tribe. 

            Lost in thought, he came within an inch of crashing head-long into Ukyo. With a start, Ranko dodged her, but his friend reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, whipping him off his feet into an abrupt throw that sent him flying. Colliding roughly with a wall, upside down, Ranko instantly slid down, cracking his head on the foundation stones of the hut. After collapsing in a heap, he rolled to the side and sprang up, ready to demand an explanation for the violent greeting. 

            "Ucchan! What the…"

            "How DARE you, Ranma!?" Ukyo roared, slapping him sharply across the cheek. 

            "Ouch! Wha…" Ranko flinched back, raising a hand to his face. "Ucchan!"

            "Don't call me that! You're not a real friend! You… you're sick, Ranma!" she accused hotly, still frothing over what she had just learned from Akane. "I can't believe you'd even THINK of doing something like that to Ranko!"

            "Huh?" Ranko blinked. Pointing nervously to himself, he began, "But I'm…" 

            "I don't want to hear your sick excuses! I am SO glad I found out about this now!" she cried, anger suddenly giving way to a spill of tears. "To think, I was actually thinking seriously about keeping the engagement with you." 

            "Ucch… Ukyo…" Ranko swallowed, extending a cautious hand to his best friend. "I know what Akane must have said to you, but she's got it all wrong!"

            "You know, usually that's true!" Ukyo snapped, bracing her hands on her hips, glaring through liquid eyes. "Akane's always been wrong about Ranko, but I'm not buying it this time. She SAW you with Fa Shen! I don't know what you did to Ranko to make her cover for you… Akane also heard you talking about having sex with Ranko, PLAIN AS DAY!!!" she shouted. Taking a quick breath, she lowered her voice and raised a tight fist toward him, "Well, listen to this. You so much as lay a hand on Ranko, and I will take your head clean off. It's just wrong, Ranma! I don't know what happened to you, but you and Fa Shen need help." 

            Ranko was completely flabbergasted. He should have known Akane would not hesitate to spill all the details. All it took was for her to get angry enough, self-righteous enough to assume everyone would see she was the injured party, and she would overcome her concern over how "Ranma's" actions reflected on her. What better way to dissociate herself from the "pervert" than by using proof of his perversions to damn him. Fighting for coherence, Ranko ground out through clenched teeth, "You don't understand…"

            Ukyo lunged forward and hissed, "I don't want to understand. I don't want to know how you think you can justify this. I know guys, Ranma. I thought you were different, but you're just like the rest. As soon as you 'get some' you can't walk away. You're gonna sleep with Fa Shen until she figures out that you're just using her. I can even see how you got her to conspire with you against Ranko… I bet you told her that a neat little three way with her would be a lot of fun. Well, wake up. I am not going to let you use MY Ranchan like that!"

            Ranko began shaking, as the urge to explode welled up inside him. "I can't believe you! That is just… sick!" he growled, bringing his head up to fix Ukyo with a dangerous look. "You have it all wrong, Ukyo. For one thing, I AM NOT RANMA!" he emphasized in a very low voice, doing everything he could to keep from bellowing at her. A spark of doubt entered Ukyo's eye, as it finally registered that Ranko's clothes were damp. Stepping forward, Ranko continued, "Akane doesn't know what she's talking about, because SHE WON'T LISTEN to any of us! SO, when you feel up to LISTENING maybe we can talk about this." Whipping away from the brown-haired girl, Ranko stomped off. Finding Ranma could wait. Akane needed to be dealt with NOW. 

            Ukyo stood in place, devastated by comprehension. "R-Ranko…?"

            Ranko did not even pick up the plaintive call. His attention was focused on sustaining some mental separation between himself and Ranma. The last thing he could afford in a confrontation with Akane was to slip into that old mindset that made him her whipping boy. Even with the offended rage his confrontation with Ukyo had summoned, Ranko was not inclined to hurt Akane, but if he dropped his guard for the sake of boyish affection, Akane would hurt him and nothing would get resolved. He stormed along, repeating over and over the mantra, 'I am the eye of the storm. My will is a pillar of calm. I wrap the rage around me, so I come to no harm. I am the eye of the storm.' Ranko did not want to make the mistake Ranma had made in failing to use Fa Shen's Pillar of Calm technique while confronting Akane. It was ironic that the technique required intense anger to focus and project serenity. Since Akane did not have any chi discipline, when Ranko transferred the Pillar of Calm to her, it would completely dissipate her rage. When he turned onto a path and spotted Akane facing him at the other end, he felt ready. 

            To his irritation, Akane froze, turned on her heel, and walked directly away. 

            "Akane! Wait!" he called out, sprinting to catch up. 

            Over her shoulder, she shouted, "I'm not talking to you!"

            Growling, Ranko grabbed her by the shoulder and replied, "Fine! At least listen!"

            Turning and taking a step back, Akane put up her guard and snarled, "Why? So you can make excuses? I don't want to hear it!"

            Already, they had been noticed and villagers scooted closer to watch the fireworks. With a sigh, Ranko schooled his features, nursing his calm. "You deserve an explanation. Don't you at least want to know what is really going on? Don't you want to know the truth, before you go on telling people what you THINK happened?" he challenged. 

            Akane bit down on a retort. She expected Ranma to deny his guilt, to proclaim her ignorance and stupidity or insult her. The anger that had fed on her all day had begun to exhaust her, but the underlying hurt was throbbing. Allowing that agony into her voice she protested, "Do you really think knowing all the sordid details is going to make up for what you did?"

            "I didn't do anything, Akane! I'm not…" but before Ranko could reveal that he was not Ranma, Akane was already reacting to the words, hearing the denial she expected. 

            "God! I knew it! I knew you'd keep trying to deny it!" the flames of fury swiftly engulfed her. 

            "Shit!" Ranko cursed, recognizing that he had to strike now, quench the flames, and then try to straighten things out. As quick as the realization, his hand snapped out, aimed for the center of Akane's chest. Unfortunately, Akane shifted her weight and flinched at that moment, causing Ranko's hand to land squarely on her right breast.

            "Oh, no…" he muttered, in that instant of realizing what he'd done. 

            Akane growled in hate, "God DAMMIT! You just CAN'T keep your HANDS to YOURSELF!" The words she stressed were emphasized as she jerked back, cocked her right fist, slapped her left hand across Ranko's cheek with a sharp crack, and then stepped in to deliver a brutal roundhouse to the other side of his jaw. Ranko flew sideways off the path, over the lip of the ravine concealed by bushes, and headlong down into the creek below. 

            As he splashed into the water, Ranko was still stunned at the unexpected sensation of soft, warm flesh occurring where his hand should have encountered the solidity of her breastbone. The shock of cold water helped restore normal thinking. 'I guess that would screw up the technique…' she thought miserably. "Akane's a jinx!" she hissed. The insufferable tomboy had clobbered all three of the triplets now, and still they had not gained a millimeter in driving any sense into her stubborn, reactionary skull. Scrambling to her feet, and up the steep bank of the creek, Ranko burst back onto the path. "Akane!" she called out, whipping her head around to spot the raven-haired girl. 

            "You too late," an amazon pronounced. "Man-girl just defeat Ranma and run off again."

            "Uh, yeah… I kinda know that already!" Ranko rubbed her jaw. "Dammit!" 

            "You tell Ranma, better hurry up and give kiss. Be bad she accidentally attack Ranko in boy form," another amazon added, just as Ranko was opening her mouth. 

            "Maybe you tell Akane, kiss of marriage much better than kiss of death. She be more careful, yes?" the first counseled soberly. 

            "Maybe she stop resisting Ranma when try to kiss."

            As they walked off, Ranko remained standing with her mouth open. She had been that close to explaining that this fight had not been with Ranma at all. "What was I thinking!?" she wailed softly. Frowning in thought, she searched her mind to see if Akane had been officially declared an ally of the tribe. Coming up with nothing, she realized why the tribe members were so quick to endorse the "man-girl" view of Akane. An outsider GIRL would have to be insane to cut loose like that on an amazon, even if "she" was only an honorary woman. With a stricken look, Ranko realized something truly horrible. "Oh, God. Ranma can't EVER be defeated by a girl! ShitshitshitshitSHIT!"

            Suddenly, it was more important to find Ranma than Akane. 

            "I'll deal with you later, Tomboy," she promised, resuming her original search. 

Ranma was not hard to find, having made his way back from the fields by the time Ranko was crossing the center of the village. Literally running into each other, the two picked each other up, and Ranko dragged an unresisting Ranma off to lunch. On the way, she carefully pointed out to Ranma the danger of allowing himself to be defeated by an outsider girl. His typical aversion to fighting girls was fine, if it kept him out of fights, but IN a fight, he could no longer afford to drop his guard. Fighting girls was much preferable to having to kill them. 

            "We have to get these stupid laws changed!" Ranma declared. 

            "Hey, I agree with you," Ranko insisted animatedly. "That's been my plan since Cologne cornered us into accepting our 'heritage'. But, it's not going to happen quickly, so we have to be careful until we can do something."

            "I still say we should have resisted becoming amazons," Ranma complained. 

            "I wish we could have. But what's the choice? They don't ever back down. One on one, MAYBE the elders can take us on and win. With the three of us working together, I doubt any of the amazons could beat us. But short of killing them, we can't really beat them for good," Ranko paused at the mouth of an ally, gesturing for Ranma to block the entrance while she pulled off her shirt, slipped back into her halter and adjusted her clothes. Having gotten used to the support, she quickly became too uncomfortable walking around in girl form without a bra of some sort. Not surprisingly, the thought next to "bra" was labeled "pervert". She frowned and shook her head. "Speaking of bras… I mean… killing, what are we going to do the next time we see the old letch?" she inquired, stepping out of the ally and resuming their walk to the Matriarch's House. 

            "If there was anyone who deserved it…" Ranma grit his teeth. With a shake of his head, "I'm not gonna go all Ryouga about it, but I did vow to kill Happosai for exposing everything to Mom. I don't think Fa Shen would even hesitate. She was not holding back in that fight any. He only got the drop on us with the compact 'cuz we thought she DID kill him."

            Ranko chuckled, "That was some quick thinkin' on Nabiki and Kasumi's part, though, wasn't it?"

            "Heh. Nice to see Akane's cooking was good for somethin' at least," he grinned evilly. He sobered up quickly, remembering that it was the same cooking that had resurrected a bit of the old ultra-violence. "I'm gonna have to kick myself for thinkin' it was a good thing she was back to 'normal'. Maybe you should lock yourself as a girl until we get this mess with Akane cleared up. I don't like the idea that you'd be forced to give her the kiss of death if she got caught beating you up by mistake."

            "What about Fa Shen's plan?" Ranko reminded him. 

            "I dunno. It doesn't look like we really mastered the curses yet. I suppose we could just switch back and she could fight Akane in this one, since it won't change accidentally with water," Ranma shrugged. With a sigh of exasperation, he added, "Of course, we have to get the damn compact back from Akane if we wanna try that. I guess we'll have to work on getting that back by tonight."

            "And have Fa Shen pose as you just to beat Akane up?" Ranko got wide eyed. 

            Ranma studied her. "If you could stay a guy right now, would you be able to do it?"

            Ranko rubbed her knuckles, "Heh. She's askin' for a real fight, that's for sure."

            "But could you… you know. Do you think you could bring yourself to knock her out?"

            Ranko shook her head sadly. "I don't know if I could do that to Ryouga anymore." 

            "And they say you always hurt the one you love…" Ranma mused. 

            "Like we haven't? Beating people up isn't the only way to hurt them, Ranma."

            "I wish Akane believed that," Ranma pouted. 

            Ranko grimaced, shoving her hands into her pockets. They continued in silence, until they were almost at the house. "We can't have Akane going around sayin' stuff like she did to Ukyo. What if that gets back to Mom? We kinda gave her the idea that it was just the one time, and it would never happen again. You know she wants us to be like brothers and sisters, an' havin' sex together is definitely going to upset her. I don't think it'll matter to her that there's more to it than that."

            "HER kids can't do anything disgraceful…" Ranma rephrased it. "Do you think…?"

            "Oh yeah," Ranko did not even need to hear the question. "There's no more seppuku contract, but that don't mean we won't have to gut ourselves or slit our throats if we 'dishonor' the family."

            "Kinda makes you think maybe we don't need the circuit that badly, huh?"

            "The problem is, we don't know that. I'd hate to need it and not know how to use it."

            "Another no win situation."

            "I'll say this," Ranko turned to him, stopping at the gate to the Matriarch's yard. "Once you and Fa Shen are back in your own bodies, we are NOT using it again where any one can find us. We'll save it for training trips, and once we've got it mastered, we'll only use it if we HAVE to."

            "Agreed," Ranma nodded sternly. 

            Entering the house, they were greeted by Ryouga, "About time, you two. Fa Shen finished cooking about fifteen minutes ago, but she wouldn't serve anything until you got here." With that, she grabbed them and tried to drag them into a closet. 

            "Come on, Pork-butt, the dining room is this way," Ranma grabbed her by the shoulder and reoriented her. The look of surprise when she stiffened and became immovable was precious. 

            Ryouga turned around and declared, prodding Ranma in the chest with a stiff, rock-hardened finger, "Do. Not. Call. Me. THAT! I am sick and tired of the pig references, and I am NOT going to take any comments about my anatomy! Got it!"

            "Hey, man. You know I don't mean nothin' by that, an' I DO turn into a girl too, remember?" Ranma held up his hands defensively. 

            "Not at the moment," Ryouga reminded her old rival. With some regret, she remembered that the best part of being Ranma's boyfriend for a night was that all the animosity between them had been dispelled. Even after Ranma discovered he was the genuine son, and things began to fall apart, Nodoka had reacted to the following revelations of Ranma's curse, original gender, and intimacy with Ryouga, by forcing Ranma to choose between Ryouga and Akane. Ranma had come very close to giving up manhood altogether for Ryouga. Then Ranko somehow took back the part of her that had made Ranma want that. The change had been much harder on Ryouga, who had tempted fate by proclaiming she would get a girl curse out of love for Ranma. The whims of fate had made her live up to that promise, but instead of Ranma, Ryouga's only hope had been with Ranko. By rejecting onna-Ryouga's advances for Ranko's sake, Ranma had all but resurrected their rivalry. Instead of Akane, Ranko was the potential focus, and what Ryouga had overheard about Ranma's alleged interest in her had put her on edge. 

            Sensing that there was something really bothering Ryouga, Ranko asked, "What's got you so upset, Ryou-chan?"

            Ryouga turned to her, "While you were getting Ranma, I had a little talk with Fa Shen. She says there's something you all have to explain to me, after hearing what Akane's been saying about you." Fa Shen heard their voices in the hall and called them to the table, so Ryouga paused while she was led into the correct room by Ranko. As they were all getting seated, she continued, "Fa Shen told me to ask you what happened when you cured Ranko, Ranma." 

            Ranma gulped and looked at the former drowned girl. "Are you sure about this, Fa Shen?"

            "It's time we started telling people," Fa Shen nodded, gesturing between them. "I'd prefer to just explain it to Akane, but she won't listen to us. Now we have to tell Ryouga…"

            "And Ukyo," Ranko interrupted, quickly sketching her confrontation with the chef. 

            "…fine, and Ukyo, now," Fa Shen rephrased with a sigh. "We'll have to get to her next, however. Unless you want to skip lunch and go looking for her?" she offered her siblings. As expected, they clutched their bowls defensively, looking pained at the suggestion of forgoing food. "Right. So, it all started when Ranma and I got together that first time to heal Ranko…"

            "First time?" Ryouga interrupted, in a strained, suspicious voice. 

            "The first time, Po… p-p-pass the serving tray, please," Ranma whipped around to stare at Ranko, desperately avoiding a reflexive "Pork-butt" comment. Coughing and clearing his throat, as he took the tray from Ranko's hands, he continued. "Ryouga, do you remember how Ranko was healed almost instantly with just that 'one time'?"

            Ryouga nodded, with eyes narrow. "But, it wasn't just one time. Why?"

            "Well, there's something we didn't tell anyone… The part that explains why we sorta have to keep doing it from time to time," Ranma tried to put it more reasonably. 

            Ryouga's eyes widened, and she turned to Ranko in alarm, "Don't tell me the cure wasn't permanent!? Do you mean, they have to keep having sex to keep you alive?"

            The trio stared at the lost girl in surprise. For a moment, they imagined what they would have done, if they had discovered such a thing was necessary. Ranma and Fa Shen turned to Ranko, looking at her and wondering what it would be like if her survival was dependant on that. With a shake of her head, Ranko ignored them and informed, "No. The cure worked fine. There was just a side effect."

            "What do you mean?" Ryouga frowned over her relief. 

            "For one thing, when Fa Shen and I have sex, it forces us to switch bodies," Ranma began.

            "And, it also creates a kind of circuit that draws raw ki from our soul," Ranko added. 

            "Huh?" Ryouga blinked. 

Very carefully, over the next hour, the triplets explained everything they had learned about the strange legacy of the Mirror of Broken Souls. Once they were sure Ryouga understood the mechanics, and their reasons for the second and third unions, they tentatively proceeded to explain where things had gone wrong. "I don't know what she tracked me down for," Ranko commented, after a quick sip of tea. "To keep from accidentally hurting her, I had to bottle all that chi up. I can only hold so much of it before it starts to burn me, so I tried to signal to Ranma and Fa Shen to stop. I didn't want to be fighting for control of the power an' dealing with Akane at the same time. They missed the signal, so I stripped off my shirt so some of the heat could dissipate, and that's when I dropped the compact."

            "Akane snatched it up and dumped us out…" Ranma tacked on.

            "…while we were still, er… busy," Fa Shen completed, blushing heavily. 

            "Why didn't you just explain it then…" Ryouga demanded in frustration. 

            "Well, Akane sorta blew up, and the sentries chasin' her were standin' right there practically," Ranko elaborated with frustrated gestures. "She's so mad at all of us that we can't get her to listen for two seconds. She even forgot she's not supposed to be bashing Ranma all over the place!"

            Ryouga pursed her lips in thought, then dismissed everything to focus on the part she really wanted clarified, "So, fine. You did it to see if you could master the curses if they weren't reversed. That's what you were doing at the river, before I ran into Ranko."

            "And it seemed to have worked at first, but only because…" Ranma cut off, recognizing that he was about to admit to having the hots for Ranko. "Ranko, do you want to tell him about what it was like with the copies?"

            Ranko guessed what Ranma wanted her to explain. "I discovered that the reflections had a way of bringing out different sides of me. The girl copy brought out my boy side, and the boy copy brought out my girl side," she admitted. Turning to face Ryouga, she carefully described the feelings she had experienced with Copy-kun. "The first time I felt it, I still thought I was Ranma. I was convinced I was a guy. The second time, he snuck up on me in the bath, and as soon as he touched me it was like you and me and the koi rod. I… I just responded like I was a girl, completely. I was so scared, I tried to kill him."

            "But, they're gone. What does this have to do with anything?" Ryouga wanted to know. 

            "Well, the three of us have the same sort of effect on each other," Ranko revealed. 

            "There's a physical side and a mental side. So, if we're both girls, Ranko brings out the guy in me more than I bring out the guy in her," Ranma confessed. He then proceeded to explain how that had caused him to overcome the lock in Fa Shen's body, to transform into a boy. "Fa Shen tested it with me, and I brought out the girl in her, and triggered her change. But it's not really control."

            "I heard Fa Shen saying she was still stuck as a girl, to Ranko, when Akane was accusing you of wanting to sleep with Ranko," Ryouga reminded them. Uneasily, she asked, "Where did Akane get the idea that you want that?"

            Ranma sighed, "Well, I actually SAID something like that. Wait! Lemme explain!" Ryouga stopped just short of strangling Ranma, only then realizing she had moved to attack. Subsiding, she nodded for Ranma to continue, "What we were talking about is how Ranko feels everything we do in the circuit, so it's not like she isn't already involved, and how we had no idea what would happen if she was actually HAVING sex with one or both of us. We don't know what would happen, and I was pointing out that the only way to find out was…"

            "To have sex with Ranko," Ryouga sagged in depression. With a heavy sigh, she announced, "I don't know what to think. I mean, yeah, I can understand you wanting to know how this thing works, but to have to… It makes me want to… Bweee! Snort!"

            The triplets jumped up as Ryouga seemed to vanish, while her clothes collapsed in on themselves. Coming around the table, they found the little girl-pig struggling to crawl out of her clothes. 

            "Man! Talk about depressing!" Ranma quipped. 

            Ranko picked up the clothes and her fiancé, and slipped into the bath. Once Ryouga was changed back, and dressed, Ranko led her back into the dining area. As usual, the activation of her pig curse had a very sobering effect on Ryouga, forcing her to bottle her emotions away, for fear of falling into a depressive loop. While she collected her wits, the other three cleared the table and rinsed the dishes. When they returned to their seats, Ryouga was ready with a new question. 

            "Obviously, this isn't casual sex. You wouldn't risk it unless you wanted to trade bodies. I can see why you thought doing that would make it easier to master your curses, but," she reached her point, "Why do you really want to master your curses? I mean, come on, Ranma. I know it was Ranko the whole time, but because she thought she was you, she hated her curse and tried everything to get rid of it. When you came back in a hundred-percent-girl body, you couldn't wait to get a guy curse, and you even had it locked. For all intents and purposes, you and Fa Shen are normal. Why would you even want to be able to change sex?"

            "I know, I know," Ranma bowed his head. "I don't have Ranko's excuse. She really is as much a boy as she is a girl. A blending of me and Fa Shen."

            "Well…" Ranko demurred. 

            "Yeah, you've been more of a girl in your own mind, but I'm betting that's mostly because you're still sorting out all of Fa Shen's memories," Ranma waved her objection off. "That's your weak side, so you're concentrating on it, but, what do you think you'll be once you have both of our lives sorted out?"

            "Er… both," she replied lamely. 

            "Right, so, you need the curse, and you need to master it." Ranko nodded, and Ranma turned back to Ryouga, "Now me, I'm just a guy who's lived in a girl's body sometimes. That never really bothered me… er, I mean, that's not a problem as much as dealin' with people like my dad, who think girls are worthless. Ranko can tell you, that's what I hated about bein' a girl. The rest of it was just hating the curse and having no control of my life because of it."

            "So, what, are you saying you actually liked being a girl?" Ryouga looked perplexed. 

            "Ryouga, I can't really admit that," Ranma looked around nervously, before lowering his voice and stating carefully, "but it is true. I didn't know how true it was until I had sex with you."

            Ryouga blushed uncomfortably. 

            "I know we sorta agreed not to talk about it, but there it is. You made me realize that I had somethin' there I did not wanna give up. There are other advantages to being able to turn into a girl, but what it boils down to is the fact that there's a part of me that only works as a girl," Ranma cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "Of course, there's one more thing."

            "I am sure I've heard enough," Ryouga frowned. 

            Ranma shook his head and looked unhappily at Ranko. With a sigh, he proclaimed, "I don't think I have a chance with Akane without the curse."

            "Huh?" 

            "Think about it, Ryouga, in Akane's mind, Ranma is this guy who turns into a girl. As much as she acts like that offends her, the first time she met me—through Ranko, and again as myself—I was a girl. She's told me again and again, that the curse didn't affect anything, but really, she accepted that the curse was part of who I am. Without it, she can barely tolerate me," Ranma murmured unhappily. 

            "You don't really believe that, do you?" Ryouga jeered. 

            "I dunno. You remember how she was when she found out you'd slept with me, Ryouga," Ranma reminded her. "Well, finding out you were P-Chan at the same time kinda made her snap, but she let go of Ranko and started gunning for me. She turned herself into a boy, thinkin' that would win me. We were getting along okay on the trip. She was freaked out about things, 'cuz she was a boy at the time, an' I was the girl. Still, that's the best we've ever gotten along. Then I got my curse and locked it, becoming a boy full time. Next thing you know, she's treating me like a punching bag again." 

            "It can't be just because you're a boy, Ranma," Ryouga argued. 

            "I don't think it's me, Ryouga. I think it's her! She was ready to make bacon outta you when you were a boy. But, you turn into a girl, and suddenly she's forgiving you and plotting to sleep with you to 'practice' being a boy for me!" Ranma snapped. That made Ryouga blink. She remembered very well how Akane had strong armed her into that. 

            "But…"

            "But what, Ryouga? She's always had a problem with boys. Either because she was treated like one growing up, or because they were all after her because she turned out to be a girl…"

            "Cute girl," Ranko interrupted, glaring at her sibling. 

            "But what you are saying," Ryouga pushed on, "is that you wanna be a girl for Akane?"

            Ranma laughed, "It sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

            "Well, yeah!"

            Ranma shrugged, "Well, it's your fault, Ryouga."

            "What the hell do you mean by that?"

            "I mean, you did it first. I got the idea from you."

            "Huh?"

            "Why did you offer to be a girl for me, Ryouga?"

            "'Cuz I thought that's what you wanted, needed, from me!"

            "Yeah. Exactly."

            Ryouga stared at him. Standing up and leaning over, "But! Are you insane! When Ukyo and Akane talk about doing that for you, you… all of you, flip out!"

            Ranma deflated. Looking up at Ryouga, he sighed, "I know, that makes me a hypocrite. What can I do? I'm already messed up, I've already been through hell with this, and I can't go back to what I was. I really don't want either of them making the same mistakes, going through the same hell, as me. And it never ends. I thought I was doing this for Akane, but…"

            "Doing it only hurt her," Ranko stated in a small voice. 


	5. Part Five

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Five

As Ryouga, Ranma and Fa Shen turned to look at her, Ranko realized she had brought the conversation to the point they had been dreading. All four of them held a deep affection for the girl named Akane Tendo. They could hardly count all the battles "Ranma" and Ryouga had fought for or over her. Ranko suddenly had to ask herself, how many of those battles had begun over some insult or injury to Akane? But the truth was that they had given very little real thought to Akane's feelings. It was almost always just an excuse to fuel their rivalry. It had been very rare that either of them had truly confronted the harm they had done to her. Like when Akane's hair had been cut during their first challenge fight at Furinkan. Unable to comprehend the harm they had done, Ranma and Ryouga let her have a shot at them, and with Ranma, that had remained the only way he could acknowledge the underlying pain of Akane's rages. That was the extent of his understanding, really. Akane kept getting angry, and he never really understood why, only that somehow Akane had been hurt, and of course he never really understood why. 

            The mystery, however, was beginning to unravel itself in Ranko's mind. 

            "I never really got it before," she admitted now. With a deep sigh, she looked at the other three in turn. "I just didn't understand her at all. She was always so angry, and she always took everything the wrong way. I'd think, she can't take it if I tease her, but then she would tease me, so I didn't think I'd hafta hold back. An' it's not like she only got angry when she was hurt. It was like getting angry was her answer to everything, so I never could tell if I'd done something wrong. It got to the point that I'd let her hit me just in case I deserved it."

            "But that just encouraged her. It made it okay for her to blame me for everything," Ranma cut in with a depressed look. "She was almost as bad as you, Ryouga. But a lot of times she was worse. She'd change on me, act nice or be helpful out of the blue and totally throw me off."

            "Exactly," Ranko nodded, watching Ryouga bite her lip. Keeping her eyes fixed on Ryouga, she went on. "The second week of the mirror thing was particularly bad. She changed so much when Pops decided to make Copy-kun into Ranma, an' my whole life was falling apart. For the first time it was like she was a real friend, an' she really cared about me.

            "I could see she was hurtin' 'cuz I'd learned to see that in her eyes. But it was… I dunno, she was hurtin' 'cuz of me, but not because I did anything wrong. She was hurtin' 'cuz I was so hurt and confused. Like she couldn't stand to see what was happening to me." Ranko fiddled with her chopsticks over a long empty plate, her eyes focused on thoughts she was hesitant to spell out. 

            "But it wasn't really the first time, Ranko. I mean, if you really think about it, you were in a lot of scrapes where Akane was really pulling for you. Whenever things were at their worst, it was pretty obvious from the way she was acting that she cared about you," Fa Shen prompted. 

            "But it never really… I mean, she's the same way with everyone! When she was like that with Shinnosuke, I thought she was plannin' on marryin' him—but then I find out she didn't love him. She owed him a debt for saving her life," Ranko reminded her, meeting her twin's eyes for an instant. Ranko shrugged. "I'd always thought she must have SOME feelings for me. But times like that actually made it harder to believe she felt anything special for me. It just meant she cared about people, especially people in trouble, and kids an' animals and such. There were a lot of times she'd felt pity for me, 'cuz of the curse or the stupid scrapes it got me into. I mighta hoped there was more, but it's not like I ever thought she really l-loved me or anything. 

            "Then I look at how I was always hurting her," Ranko dropped her utensils and crossed her arms. "Not like I ever tried to beat her up or anything. An' I am pretty sure I never meant to start any of the fights we got into. I could never figure out how half of them got started, and the other half I was actually tryin' to help her out." She turned a hard eye on Ryouga. She did not really need to point out how many times Akane had accused "Ranma" of picking on P-Chan or Ryouga. That was not the only reason that much, if not most, of the interaction between "Ranma" and Akane was antagonistic. Ranko closed her eyes, trying to let go of past conflicts, "Really, I just didn't get it. I thought she was the one always starting everything. I didn't realize that Pop had trained me to start fights without even noticin' it. It's ingrained in me, like a reflex."

            Ranko could practically feel the others come to the same realization. Ranma and Fa Shen naturally picked up on what Ranko was saying. Ranko opened her eyes to see Ryouga regarding her thoughtfully. A look that said Ryouga was not just looking at her, at the face and form of the red-headed girl, but that the dark haired neo-girl was "seeing" her, the substance of the person within. 

            As a child of Genma Saotome, Ranko was an expert on all the ways a person could be hurt by another, since her father had ruthlessly and relentlessly scourged her with virtually all of them. In the manner of such things, the constant abuse had forced the former boy's psyche to toughen to the point where it was second nature to ignore or shrug off the pain of insults and injustice as casually as she dismissed physical punishment. The world of Ranma Saotome, the life in which Ranko had her roots, was a world of pain and punishment. At no time was she allowed to forget the millions of ways in which she was vulnerable, and so she had developed hundreds of millions of ways to protect herself. One of the very first techniques she had learned had been to reply to pain with anger, but the millions of methods that followed had disciplined that anger, given it the form and focus to transform her into an extremely effective weapon. True, the perfection of that weapon had been flawed, scarred by the nyanniichuan curse which revealed or created weaknesses and vulnerabilities "Ranma" could barely cope with, but apart from that it had become extremely unusual for Ranko to get or remain hurt by anything. 

            It had not helped that her father had carefully limited her interaction almost exclusively to other students and masters of the martial arts. In her world, there were people who pursued the discipline of the Art, those who practiced the discipline of the Art, and those who were ignorant of it. Her obligation was to test herself against the first, to learn from the second and protect the third. From the day she met Akane, Ranko had accepted the other girl's assertion that she was a student of the Art, constantly struggling with all the impulses that screamed that Akane was, in fact, no such thing. How many times had "Ranma" encountered other martial artists that he had utterly surpassed? It had not really mattered; Ranma had simply observed the dictates of his personality, classifying those beneath him in skill as belonging to the first and third category depending on the presence or absence of significant threat. He would protect those weaker than himself, but provoke and encourage any who dared to improve themselves. 

            There was one little problem.

            It had never occurred to Ranma that Akane ALLOWED herself to be hurt, psychologically. In the realm of verbal and social sparring, Ranma had been handing out a constant stream of heavy abuse—mostly out of habit, thanks to his father—and Akane had taken all the blows full force, putting up only a token defense if she bothered to defend herself emotionally at all. She had never been taught, or figured out on her own, how to take mental abuse. Unfortunately, mental abuse was about the only kind of offense Ranma had been comfortable with handing out to a girl. Or at least one with Akane's physical ability. The only other example of such absurd idiocy Ranko could think of was the way "Ranma" never bothered to defend himself against Akane's physical abuse. The only difference was, Ranma could take the abuse. It was annoying and frustrating as hell, but he was always able to soak up the damage and come out little worse for wear. Most of the time, it was worth it, since Akane usually stormed off after dispensing punishment and Ranma was left alone to smooth down any ruffled feathers Akane had managed to tweak out of place in their verbal sparring. The whole time, the whole eleven months, Ranma had considered all the conflicts and confrontations as little more than sparring. It was never anything to get really bent out of shape about, apart from the fact that Akane's "attacks" were, to Ranma's way of thinking, dirty blows. In any terms, a kick in the nuts was way too extreme for sparring, and just about every argument with Akane involved some kind of attack on his manhood. That had been true from their first confrontation, and Ranma was not above sinking to low blows in response. 

            Obviously, Ranma had always given Akane far too much credit. He had simply assumed that his opponent would grasp the concept of never handing out a form of punishment she was not prepared to receive. It really came as a shock to discover, at this late date, that Akane was so angry, so HATEFUL, because she had been hurt so badly in their fights—because Ranma, and by obvious extension, Ranko as she was now, never realized that Akane had never learned how to defend herself or absorb the damage. 

            What that meant, as far as any of the triplets were concerned, was that Akane was someone who did not know how to fight. It made the three of them the very thing they all despised—bullies. "I never really understood it. She hardly ever treated me better than Pops did, but the thing was, I almost always let her hit me. Not 'cuz I wanted to get hit! I don't let people beat on me just because. It was like, I just couldn't raise my arms against her, even to defend myself. I didn't even wanna dodge," she admitted in mortification.

            Ryouga noticed how Ranma and Fa Shen nodded in tandem. 

            "I sort of know the feeling. I don't know how to explain the feeling itself, but it sort of disarms you," the lost girl contributed, thinking of the inexplicable confusion she had suffered when she had been confronted by Copy-chan. With a swallow and a nervous glance at Ranko, she said what was on all their minds, "That's when you know you are in love. You realize, how easy it is to hurt… her… but at the same time, you can't do anything to protect yourself because it would hurt even more if you did anything to cut yourself off from her."

            "Right," Ranko met Ryouga's eye. "But here's the thing. I've been like this almost since I met Akane, but… I never really put two and two together. I could never understand why she was always acting hurt over everything I said or did… hell, even things she only imagined or totally misunderstood. I should have figured it out the night Ranma and I went over to your house, Ryouga."

            Ranma gasped and clutched at his chest. 

            "Ranma thought he'd caught you two in the act," Ranko put a supporting hand on her 'brother's' knee. "He thought he'd been rejected, that you an' Akane had decided to dump him and be with each other. And when Ranma told me what he'd seen, I couldn't believe it. It was just too painful to be possible. 

            "Which is what makes what happened today seem so… so… God!" Ranko wanted to spit and snarl. "I got in the habit of thinkin' that it's all just Akane. She gets mad about everything. She doesn't need a reason. I never even thought about what she'd think or how she'd feel, all I was thinkin' was that if Ranma and Fa Shen switched places, they wouldn't have the reversed-curse problem Fa Shen said would keep them from mastering their curses. I never thought about what it would look like, and besides, I thought we'd made sure no one would be able to spy on us."

            "I still can't believe what happened!" Ranma moaned. His mind flashed back to those precious moments in the compact. If it had ever occurred to him that having sex with Fa Shen might be construed as cheating on Akane, he had been completely distracted from such thoughts by the realization that it was the first time for Fa Shen in her own body. It had been rather mind blowing for both of them to realize that, even though they had both had sex three times before, they were suddenly virgins again. It was the first time either of them had been intimate since Jusenkyo had restored them to their true sexes in their acquired bodies. He had not thought past the fact that they had been given a second chance to get everything right for their "first" time. 

            Ryouga laughed, "Well, you told me, but I don't think even Nabiki could have laid odds on the chance of Akane tracking you down and catching you in the act like that. It was like an act of God, like you were destined to be caught, and nothing could have stopped it from happening."

            Ranko and Fa Shen sighed in resignation. 

            "But it did happen, and even if we explain it all, I don't know if Akane can ever forgive us," Fa Shen pronounced, absently gathering dishes into a pile. "We made a serious mistake, and Ranko was right, all we did was hurt Akane. Whatever our reasons, that isn't changed. Worse, Ranma and I have to do it again to get back to normal, even if we abandon trying to master the curses."

            "Why?" Ryouga asked, perplexed. As far as he could see, the two were back to the status quo. "Ranma's a boy and you're a girl. What do you need to switch places again for?"

            Fa Shen stared at Ryouga, setting down the stack of dishes with a thump. "You can't be serious. If we don't switch back, Ranma and I are stuck in the wrong bodies."

            "But you're both the right sex…"

            "You don't get it" Fa Shen cut her off, with a stern look. "Let me put it this way, you've had sex with Ranma when he was in this body. I know that, and I can even feel it—like it's echoing inside me—and it kind of creeps me out whenever I am around you, Ryouga," Fa Shen explained pointedly, standing up to come around the table to touch the part-time girl. "If you try, you can feel there's something, physically, between us. Only we both know there's nothing like that between you and me."

            Ryouga gulped as the hand on her shoulder did raise strange, powerful feelings. The only word to describe it was intimacy. "I don't understand…"

            "What's to understand? The body has it's own memories. This one knows it has had something special with you. It hungers for it all on it's own. And, while I can live with it, that's only because I'm just borrowing it. If I came back to my own body to find something like that, something I did not choose, it would eat at me. I'd feel violated…" Fa Shen shuddered, and brushed it off. "So, if we don't switch back, neither I, nor Ranma, can even think of being with any one else."

            "Huh?" Ryouga looked up at her, as Fa Shen withdrew her hand. 

            "Are you really that dense, Ryouga?" Ranko stared. 

            "Wha…? I mean, no! I think I get what she's saying, but…" Ryouga shook her head and retreated from the table a bit. "This is just too weird."

            Ranma cleared his throat, "So, not much has changed then. We still need the compact, and that means we have to get Akane to calm down. Maybe she won't forgive us, but we still have to explain this. How are we going to go about it?"

            "Ranma, maybe it's best for now to just give her time," Ranko counseled softly, drawing his attention to herself and holding his eyes. One corner of his mouth turned down, but he gave a slight nod. With a wan smile, she assured, "She'll cool down on her own, and it's not like there's any hurry to get you two switched back. It really only matters if sex comes up, and right now it's best if it doesn't." Ranko rose up on her knees to gather up their cups and place them on a tray. "Let's just focus on getting back to our normal routine. Confronting Akane before she's ready is only going to make things worse, so let's wait for her to come to one of us. Maybe Ryouga can talk to her, but after dinner I think. What do you say, Ryou-chan?"

            Ryouga shrugged, "That's fine. I could use some time to think. If I talked to her now, I'd probably make a hash of things."

            Ranma stood and reached for the teakettle, "Well, in that case, why don't you and I go out an' spar for a bit?" Ranma tipped the kettle over Ryouga, restoring the lost boy's birth form. 

            "Take a kettle and a canteen with you," Ranko suggested, rising to join Fa Shen in carrying the dishes to the kitchen. It was always best to have some kind of water handy in case Ryouga had a pig-fit. "Maybe after we're done in the kitchen, we'll come out and join you guys."

As Ranko and Fa Shen busied themselves in the kitchen, washing the dishes from their meal and struggling to deal with the aftermath of Akane's cooking lesson, Shampoo bounded in the door, humming a tune to herself and bouncing past the other two girls with an abrupt, "Nihao! Shampoo have to deliver message to Great-Grandmother but be back quick quick to help with clean up!" This rapid promise was still echoing in the room as the two red-heads turned to track the lavender blur, coming to face each other with blinking eyes. With a shrug, they resumed their task. Shampoo flew up the stairs, around and down the hall, coming to a stop only as she reached the door to the matriarch's study. Announcing her presence, she waited for an invitation to enter. If the door had been open even a bit, she would have been free to go right in and deliver her message, but Cologne had been closeted with Nodoka for most of the day, going over the paperwork and formalities of Ranko and Fa Shen's adoption by Nodoka, and that worthy's adoption by Shampoo's own great-grandmother. 

            After an unusually long pause, Cologne admitted her former heir and heard the girl's message. Shampoo obediently passed a note from a senior member of the council and bowed to excuse herself. Her sharp eyes had picked up a strange flushed pallor on the two older women's faces, but as they had composed themselves to admit her, Shampoo knew this was not the time to voice her curiosity. Before she could leave, however, Cologne cleared her throat. "Shampoo, Nodoka and I are feeling a little parched. Would you kindly send Ranko in with refreshments? Tell her to bring a setting for herself, as well. There is something her mother and I would like to speak with her about."

            "Yes, Great-Grandmother," Shampoo bowed again and left. 

            Nodoka turned to Cologne, with a raised eyebrow. 

            "Of the three, I think it would be best to speak to her first," Cologne stated, in answer of the unvoiced question. Returning her attention to the documents and books they had been perusing together before they had been distracted, she cleared her throat again. "As I was saying earlier, this is a necessary subterfuge. For both girls, it is perfectly honest and accurate to say that this is their place of origin. It is rather fortunate we were able to find confirmation of your father's trip to Jusenkyo. Ranma in particular should be quite surprised to learn that he was following in his grandfather's footsteps," Cologne looked up at Nodoka with a grin. "With proof of his passage, and of course the reputation of this village, it was not difficult to invent a half sister for you whose passing necessitates you taking custody of the girls. Your own adoption can easily be explained as a concession to us, assuring that the girls will retain some of their heritage in your custody."

            "I do appreciate your help in establishing legal identities for the girls, but I confess, the whole thing seems so complicated," Nodoka bowed from the neck, still fighting the blush and the thoughts that sustained it. 

            "You should be encouraged, Child," Cologne reached out a withered hand to cover Nodoka's comfortingly. "From what we have learned, we can assume that this friend of your fathers will be understanding if he ever learns about Ranma's condition."

            "It's just so strange, though," Nodoka met the old woman's eyes. "I just cannot get over the idea that my father was… was my mother. What are the odds that I'd be the daughter of his curse?" 

            Cologne sniffed, "I think it a bit more odd that the origin of his curse is so mysterious. According to the records the Guide showed us, he arrived already cursed in Fa Shen's image, in search of a cure. It is even more surprising that he escaped from the Musk and waited to use the Kaisuifuu he had stolen until after you were born. But, given the facts, what other explanation is there?"

            "And as strange as the idea of posing as his own wife might be, I am surprised that a priest like Masaki Katsuhito would risk his reputation by forging the wedding certificate," Nodoka looked at once disturbed, outraged and grateful. "But you are correct, he must have known about the curse before it was locked, or he would never have gone along with it. I find myself even more curious about my father's friend. It was a very humane thing for him to do, under the circumstances." Nodoka sighed once again, "But, I cannot help but be disturbed and afraid of what this means for Ranma. If this could happen to my father, it could just as easily happen to my son. Because of Herb, the threat has reared its head twice already, and it makes little difference if the risk is greater for Ranko and Fa Shen at present."

            "I am personally far more disturbed by the alias your father used on his visit to the cursed springs. I can only hope it was some combination of a perverse sense of humor and some knowledge of the history of the Nyanniichuan. I would hope that is the only reason he called himself Lo Shen," Cologne muttered darkly. "I dread the very notion that the true Lo Shen was wandering around fifteen hundred years later, still a picture of youth and vigor and seeking a way to free himself of his sister's form." 

            Nodoka laughed, "Well, the one consolation in that would be knowing that he did not sacrifice his manhood to bear me! If he was Lo Shen, that fate had already befallen him before." Nodoka sobered thoughtfully and added, "However, it does make one wonder about the obligation he left me. If his curse was the origin of his demand for a true male heir, is there any hope of Ranma fulfilling it?"

            Cologne sighed and looked down, "I am afraid the priest is the only one who can answer that question. I would personally say that no one could be more of a man than Ranma. Only Fa Shen and Ranko compare to him, by contrast. Where he has endured this curse to become more than a man, they have transcended womanhood. None of those three are bound by the limits other men and women, and even most of those cursed as they have been, impose on themselves." Cologne's head turned faintly to pick up the sound of approaching feet. Ranko was making no effort to conceal her approach, but even then it was difficult for the old woman's trained senses to detect her. "She comes. How do you want to address this other matter?"

            Nodoka bit her lip. "I don't know, M-Mother. I don't even know how to bring it up. It kills me to see that look in their eyes…" 

            Cologne nodded and called out, "Come on in, Ranko." In a lower voice, she advised her adopted daughter, "Just remember what I told you. Nothing in your life can prepare you or account for the truth about your child. There is no room for assumptions or prejudice."

            Ranko eased the door open with her foot, trays of tea and snacks balanced in her hands and atop her head. She glided into the room, absently closing the door behind her with the same foot, and approaching the low table where the two women were seated as though completely unencumbered. With a deft, darting and floating grace, she juggled trays of refreshments and cleared space on the table all at once, serving the three of them even as she completed placing her burdens down. It had the effect of appearing as though everything served and sorted itself out before them, as the girl casually sat down. Straightening to attention, she looked at Cologne, "You wished to speak to me, Elder?"

            "You may call me Great-Grandmother, Child," Cologne smiled, reaching for her cup to take a sip of tea. "Your mother and I have finalized all the adoption paperwork. The ceremony is just a formality. It makes a wonderful excuse for a celebration, but there is no need for formality here."

            Ranko's eyes widened. "I see." She picked up her cup and gulped deeply, before a faint noise from her mother reminded her of her manners. She flushed faintly and took a delicate sip before placing her cup down. "So, this means I am officially Ranko now?"

            The two women nodded with warm smiles. Nodoka looked directly at Ranko, "There will be a few more legalities to take care of when we return to Japan, but this establishes you as yourself." She could not help but grin, "I can see that you are curious how we managed it, and I apologize for keeping all the details from you until now, but… well, when you hear what we've learned, you will understand." 

            Ranko studied their faces for a moment. She had not really understood the difficulty of establishing her identity until Ukyo sat down with her and pointed out all the factors involved in fabricating a new identity. Ranko was fortunate in not having a real past to hide at the same time, but a whole host of legal problems presented themselves as a result of her basically appearing out of nowhere. Such things mattered little in terms of the wandering life style she had known as Ranma, but even then the proper paperwork and documentation had existed that allowed Ranma to cross international borders, attend school, work, etc. Without such documentation, Ranko would never be able to function on her own. She would be dependant on others who were established and willing to bend the rules to accommodate her, either as a guest like in the Tendo home, working "under the table" as she had for Cologne at the Cat Café, or at worst being forced into a life of crime one way or another simply to support herself. 

            Ranko munched on a rice cake, waiting for Cologne or Nodoka to elaborate. Cologne noted the girl's patience with concealed approval, wondering if this was a true sign of growth, or if the girl simply did not know what question to blurt out first. With a slight chuckle, she picked up where Nodoka left off, "While you kids were kept out of the loop, you might have noticed when your mother and I went through the records at the Guide's hut. As I mentioned back in Nerima, I had a suspicion that one of your ancestors might have had an encounter with the Nyanniichuan, to explain your mother's appearance. In addition, you mother confided that her father told her tales about the Joketsuzoku while she was growing up, indicating that he might have visited our tribe prior to her birth."

            Ranko tilted her head and considered that, "So, you were looking to see if he showed up in the guest book?"

            "Correct. Fortunately, his visit predated the register that was stolen by Taro, and that record was still in the archive," Cologne replied, taking another sip of her tea. With a gesture to Nodoka, she continued, "On a first look, it seemed my theory was wrong, since his name did not show up. However, your mother recognized his penmanship in a different name. An obvious alias. A man, who fit the general description of you in masculine form, and possessing a nyanniichuan curse, who signed his name as 'Lo Shen'." Cologne paused as Ranko jerked at the name and stared at her in disbelief. "Oh, yes. I was rather startled myself. But I seriously doubt HE could have survived fifteen hundred years while hardly aging a decade. With a little effort, we found a picture of your grandfather in the archive. The man must have been in his twenties when he arrived, and the dates of the picture and the entry were both a year before your mother's birth. From the notes of the Guide of that era, he sought the Chuanshontsuniichuan intending to test the legend of salting the water and using it to split himself into male and female incarnations. 

            "But, before he could, he was confronted by the Musk, his curse was locked and 'she' was abducted. Apparently, word of your grandfather's curse and skill as a warrior had reached the Musk, and they had been pursing him as a prospective bride," Cologne revealed. With a deep sigh, she went into detail. The story was put together from a combination of Jusenkyo, Joketsuzoku and Musk archives—the last solicited through Herb, who was equally curious to know how Ranma/Ranko and their mother were born in the image of Fa Shen. Not surprisingly, Herb's father had brought the information containing all the real answers, on the condition that he be allowed to examine Nodoka. "He had kept the story of his attempt to marry this 'Lo Shen' a secret. Only the possibility that Nodoka was his daughter lured him down from his palace."

            Ranko stared at her mother in disbelief, "His… DAUGHTER!?"

            Nodoka flushed to her roots, wondering if her face matched her hair as well as her daughter's did at the moment. 

            "How could he think you were his… No! Your mother was…!?"

            "My father," Nodoka breathed in shame. Clearing her throat, when several moments passed as Ranko fought to regain her voice, she clarified, "That much we do know now. My father escaped from the Musk, after stealing the Kaisuifuu, but he did not use it until after I was born. The amazons had heard of the theft and pursued in hopes of recovering the kettle for themselves. They were not able to find my father, but they did learn that I was born and the kettle hidden at Mount Horiisan after my father was unlocked. My 'mother's' death was a story made up to conceal the truth about my father's ordeal and keep his curse a secret."

            "I don't believe it!" Ranko shouted, turning on Cologne. "For one thing, if this is all true, how come you didn't know about any of this!?"

            Cologne did a fair job of blushing herself, as she responded to the challenge, "Well, there is a fair bit of irony to that part of the story. You see, I led that mission to Japan. The confusion comes in with what we did and did not know at the time. The first we learned of the incident was when a woman arrived in the village pursued by Musk warriors. Physically, she resembled Nodoka in stature and age, and she had dyed her hair black. The disguise was good enough that she did not bring Fa Shen to mind, and she never let on that she was cursed. What struck me at the time was that she was familiar with our customs, avoided conflict with any of the women here, and was desperate to escape from the Musk. It was a situation we had dealt with for generations, whenever some outsider girl was so unfortunate as to fall into their hands, and we took pleasure in frustrating her pursuers. Only the fact that she was reputed to have made off with one of the Musk treasures inspired us to follow after her."

            Cologne chuckled to herself and took another drink. "Initially, she was not that difficult to track. But when we first caught up to her, she had shed her disguise in order to book passage to Japan. We would have lost her then if we had not literally run into her. At the time, we assumed her change in appearance was the disguise, since the only place where an oriental woman could pass as normal with your coloring, Ranko, is here in this village. In practical terms, it made sense, since with that shocking red hair, no one could hope to remember her features. The problem was, she still wore clothing we had given her, making it easy to confirm her identity. We confronted her, demanding she hand over the kettle. She proved a formidable opponent when we tried to capture her, managing to escape without incurring a kiss of death. A technicality, since she maneuvered us into knocking each other out!"

            Cologne cackled loudly at the memory, "Oh, she was a feisty one! An expert with a sword and quite skilled in chi manipulation. She even managed to reverse a Hiryu Shoten Ha on me! That leaves little doubt where some of your own talent comes from, Child. But, by the time my party came to, she had left the country. Her trail was growing cold by the time we made it to Japan. It took us too long to track her down. 

            "We arrived in Okayama Prefecture, and when we asked around for a woman fitting her description, we were pointed to her grave, told that she had died in childbirth, and that her husband had taken their daughter and moved on," Cologne paused to study Nodoka. With a heavy sigh, she concluded, "That was only six months after the woman first appeared in the village, so there can be no doubt she was impregnated while a prisoner of the Musk. As impressed as we were by the woman, we considered adopting her daughter, assuming the 'father' would be happy to rid himself of a bastard and a girl. Because of that, and on the assumption that he had taken possession of the kettle, we continued pursuit." 

            Nodoka made a noise of discomfort, drawing attention to herself. 

            Cologne looked at her and grinned, "Well, if we had known then what we know now, we would have understood the man's protectiveness of you. When we tracked him down, he had completed his mission to hide the kaisuifuu. Not surprisingly, he recognized us all at once, and did not hesitate to inform us that he was aware of our customs. He refused our demands to hand over the girl and the kettle. The kettle, he claimed, was safely hidden, and he gave us a choice. We could continue to pursue him and his daughter, or we could search for the kettle, and to encourage us, he told us the location to search. I decided, if the kettle was hidden, the first priority was to rescue the girl. After all, it seemed a terrible fate to let her be raised by a man in a patriarchal society like Japan."

            Ranko considered that. "You know, with just the general location, Mousse, Ryouga and I would have found the kettle on our own if we'd had the time to look for it. I mean, talk about stupid hiding places! A giant stone kettle sitting on the peak of a mountain spring? Talk about obvious!"

            Cologne harrumphed, "Well, in point of fact, we never did go to Mount Horiisan. It was enough to know where to look for it, and the Musk certainly had no clue where to begin looking."

            "So, you planned to adopt my mom, but it's kinda obvious you never did. What happened?"

            Cologne sighed, "As you can imagine, he did not dare to fight us. He would have to have beaten at least one of us, and it would not have pained us to gain a worthy husband in addition to the daughter of a worthy woman. Instead, he tricked us. In hindsight, I realize what he did; using his curse, he confronted us as the ghost of the girl's mother. With the chi techniques at his disposal, he was able to project his image, to make himself seem a convincing phantom. You can hardly blame us, after we were thrashed by a dead woman, for deciding it best not to invite further wrath. It amused us to think of the poor man haunted by this vengeful spirit, forever watching over the girl."

            Ranko and Nodoka stared wide-eyed at that. 

            In the lull, Ranko heard a disembodied snatch of conversation echo in the room. The voices were instantly recognizable as that of Fa Shen and Shampoo, as the former asked the latter about her intentions.

            "…just want to know if you are in on it, Shampoo."

            "No. Mousse decide to do his self," the other girl retorted. "Also, is only training now. Even Mousse not know if he want still challenge Ranko, but he say he ready to challenge if Shampoo try anything with Ranko again."

            "You're kidding? Are you sure he isn't planning on challenging you directly? I mean, after your marriage was dissolved, and your claim to Ranko forfeited, it's not unlikely he would want another shot at you."

            "Is possible, but Mousse must wait one more month before he can challenge Shampoo again," she informed solemnly, though whether because she was troubled by the deadline or the delay was unclear.

            Ranko blinked, turning around to pinpoint where the voices were coming from, and found herself looking at a vent in the floor. With shock, she realized that Cologne's study was directly over the dining room. The pair of amazons downstairs must have just entered the room, after completing their work in the kitchen. The vent in the floor was meant to channel heat from the hearth in the room below, but sound was conducted just as effectively. With a sinking feeling, she turned to look at the two older women in the room, as her mind flashed back over the conversation she had participated in earlier. Had the voices of Ranko, Ranma, Ryouga and Fa Shen carried as clearly as this?

            One look at the composed faces of Cologne and Nodoka, as they took in the pale of shock on Ranko's face, answered that question. With a painful gulp, Ranko stammered, "Y-you d-di-didn't c-call m-m-me in h-here to t-t-t-talk a-ab…"

            "About your grandfather?" Cologne finished for her, with a guarded expression. At Ranko's nod, she sighed, "As a matter of fact, we did wish to talk to you about that. But. As you fear, Nodoka and I did happen to overhear something rather shocking over the past hour or so. I confess, we did not wish to eaves drop, but we could hardly ignore what the four of you were discussing."

            Ranko curled up on herself and shuddered, "Ohgodohgodohgod!" Everything that was mentioned and discussed with Ryouga roared through her mind. All the secrets the trio was desperately afraid of their mother finding out, had been spilled out on the floor. At the thought of their life's blood and viscera following suit, Ranko simply keeled over unconscious. 

Afternoon had settled in warm and beautiful, resplendent in a riot of early spring vigor. Vibrant green shoots shot up from the rich dark soil, pushing aside the dull grey and gold debris of last season's decaying plant life. The heady scent of nature's potpourri filled Akane's nose as she wandered the outskirts of the village. It barely penetrated the haze of bitterness that dragged her angry thoughts into furrows of depression. If she could just bring herself to face the hurt that fertilized her rage, she might break out of the dangerous cycle, but every time she allowed her thoughts to return to the shocking image that seared her mind, she recoiled violently from the stab of betrayal. 

            In the wake of discovering that Ranma was cheating on her with Fa Shen, with shut-eye chaperonage from Ranko, Akane had discovered new depths of pain and anger. It rivaled the betrayal of P-Chan being revealed as the cursed form of Ryouga at the same time she learned that the lost boy had slept with Ranma. 

            It was disturbing how these things always seemed to come down to timing and the incredible perversity of fate. A nagging voice inside her kept asking her if what she had caught them doing that morning had been going on all along, or if she had just happened to stumble along just in time to catch Ranma trying sex for the first time as a male? She keenly remembered her justification for attempting to have sex as a boy with a girl Ryouga. She had been desperate to know if she was even capable of that kind of intimacy with a female, for Ranma's sake. Why would Ranma, or Fa Shen for that matter, be any different? What normal girl or boy would not wonder—after the sort of experiences those two had in their new bodies—if they were still capable of performing in the roles they were born to? What kind of moron would blame them for trying to find out? That was why she had refused to listen to any excuses from them. If she was forced to forgive them, she would have nothing to be angry with them about. She would have to face the pain she felt without that familiar protection. 

            It was so obvious, in retrospect, that it made Akane furious that she had not anticipated it. Or was that, because she had anticipated it instantly, when the first reflection entered their lives and set her sights on Ranma? Maybe she had some suspicion from the very beginning, when she blurted in outrage, "He's a couple by HIMSELF!" at the time of their engagement. 

            Deep within, Akane's conscience was adding fuel to the fury, reminding her that it was not Ranma's fault he had taken over copy-Ranko just when she was losing her virginity. Akane was the one to blame for that date ever happening, and it had been eating at her since. She was not sure who to blame for the fact that Ranma had to have sex again—also as a girl, and with the male Fa Shen—in order to heal Ranko. And maybe, she was not really angry with Ranma at all. Maybe she was really just afraid. What was love but the thread that wove a pair of unfinished souls into something whole, complete? How could Akane compete… how could she even have a hope of completion in Ranma, when Ranma was so obviously capable of completing himself?

            But these thoughts were too deep, too disturbing for her mind to cope with. It was just too confusing, and the note of depression only grew stronger as she reflected on the most recent addition to her unhappy musings. 

            Once again, she remembered the bitter sound of Ranko's voice as she stormed away from the path to the tournament ground, promising, "I'll deal with you later, Tomboy."

            Akane had fled from what she had thought was another fruitless confrontation with Ranma by stepping off the path just around the bend from where she had knocked the red-headed boy into the ravine, in order to avoid the amazon witnesses to the fight. The instant she spotted her opponent's female form stalking by, and reflexively hid behind a tree, she had known that she had made a mistake. 

            Of the three who had hurt her, Ranko was the only one Akane had a hope of reconciling with. The only one she might have allowed herself to listen to, anyway. She desired it too, desperate to know what had motivated the girl to cover for her siblings in their perverted activities, but even more concerned with warning the girl of both Ranma's gross intentions as well as the initial threat of Mousse's training. She still wanted to kick herself for forgetting her original reason for confronting Ranko that morning. But when Ranko came to her, intent on trying to clear things up, Akane had blown whatever hope of reconciliation she had out of the water. 

            That was reason enough for her to flee from the village in despair. It was just the kick in the head she needed to start thinking again, and unfortunately, the first thing she thought of was the possible consequence of clobbering Ranko. She knew all too well how powerfully influenced her present and former fiancés were by their sense of honor. She had no idea how that would mix with Fa Shen's background and their new allegiance to the amazon tribe. She had no idea how likely they were to follow through on something like the kiss of death, and however much she wanted to believe the three would refuse to obey that aspect of amazon law she was painfully conscious of how they had already reacted to matters involving the kiss of marriage. In and of themselves, Ranma and Ranko were not killers, but Fa Shen was, and the other two were drawing more and more from their former self. 

            Akane felt, with growing dread and disgust, that the three would carry out that fatal duty if there was no way for them avoid it. 

            Thus, instead of returning to the village to find Ranko, she haunted the outskirts brooding. She was almost positive that she had not provoked a kiss of death. Almost. She felt enough trepidation that she did not want to test it. But all that left her was plenty of time to do nothing but perch on a boulder sinking into a pit of anger and depression. The aura surrounding her had become thick and cloying, a deep teal shot through with waves of blue and green. If it were just rage and frustration, she would have blown it all off in her outbursts against Ranma and Ranko, but the underlying pain had not abated and continued to feed the demons of Akane's passion. 

            It was much easier to blind herself with rage. With Ranma constantly harassing her, it was so easy to keep the anger alive, to lash out. But it also blinded her to the fact that it hurt her more than him, and that pain just fed back into her anger. So, there really was nothing she could have done to prevent what her fatal preoccupation was about to bring down on her. 

            On one level, she was feeling the pressure building in and around her, so it was an instinctive response to grasp for some way to vent her emotions. Because of her isolation, her normal method could not be applied. There was no one to beat on, and she had long since given up on breaking rocks and trees when that gave her no relief. She was simply itching to let it all off in one great explosion, and she had observed the method that came to her so many times she did not even have to think of it. For the same reason, any normal doubts she might have had about being able to perform such a technique herself was completely bypassed. The impulse struck her, and before she knew it, she had cupped her hands in front of her abdomen and allowed the massive cloak of chi to funnel into a globe between them. What she did notice, as the ki attack reached critical mass, was that her mind suddenly became clear and focused. She had a split second to realize that she had powered up a devastating attack and had it aimed directly into the village.

            With a squawk of awe and terror, she shifted her stance and directed the swelling ball of chi to fire off directly overhead, in perfect imitation of Ryouga's ultimate final attack. Once the rush of power had ascended into the heavens, she continued to stand in disbelief with her tingling arms pointed to the sky. "I don't believe it," she gasped. How many times had Ranma—or rather, Ranko—commented on what Akane could do with her powerful aura, if she could only manage to harness it? "I just threw a ki attack!"

            For an instant, all of her troubles were wiped from her mind as pride in her accomplishment surged through her. Then she noticed that the glowing ball in the sky had stopped diminishing and now appeared to be growing again. 

            "Wha…" she squinted her eyes. A cold chill ran down her spine, and sweat popped out on her brow. "Ohmygod. It's coming back down!" she cried in a panic, turning to race away from ground zero. To her shock, she felt something twist around and then bite into her ankle, some tangle of weeds that used her own motion to twine around her leg and trip her. As she fell onto her face, she reflexively covered her head and prayed to survive her own debut attack.

            It never even occurred to her that there might be a hidden danger, something far more insidious than the risk of being crushed, charred or blasted in the detonation of spiritual energy. The harsh lesson Ryouga had learned had not really sunk in, since until that moment Akane would never have considered herself at risk. It was only as a disturbingly familiar tingle sang through her body, as she was flattened and seared by the heavy, burning manifestation of her own anger and depression, that she remembered the Instant Nanniichuan and the residue it had left in her chi. In the same way Ryouga had resurrected his Heitonniichuan curse by powering up his perfect shishihokodan, Akane had breathed new life into the ashes of the magic that had touched her, and inadvertently turned it on herself. The only difference, however, was that she did not have a curse that would allow her to reverse the effect. 

            By the time the villagers arrived on the scene, drawn by the sight and explosive sound of the massive detonation of chi, the battered young 'man' lying in the center of the crater had stopped convulsing in pain and begun shuddering in misery. 


	6. Part Six

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Six

Before Cologne and Nodoka could rouse Ranko from her faint, a sudden cacophony echoed upstairs through the heating vent. It began with a loud cry of "Shampoo! Watch your ste—!" followed by the crash of pots and pans and a distinct splash of water. The mournful mewl of dismay was drowned out by a shriek of primal terror as Fa Shen was overcome by her siblings' fear of cats. An even greater crash followed, as she rocketed away from the curse-created feline, ploughing through the kitchen table, the pantry and the outside wall in her haste to escape. With a heavy sigh, the two older women paused only to see that Ranko was laid out comfortably before rushing downstairs to assess the damage and smooth down the ruffled feathers of their descendants. By all the signs, the kitchen had been minutes away from being perfectly neat and tidy, but Shampoo had stumbled into a mop bucket while carrying a stack of cooking implements over to the pot rack. Nodoka stepped past the pile of pots and pans scattered where Shampoo lost the ability to hold them, and gingerly slipped through the wreckage of the pantry in Fa Shen's wake. Cologne found her great-grandchild cowering in shame in a corner of the kitchen and carefully picked her up to carry her into the bath. 

            While the matriarch filled the bath, grateful of the fact that recent generations had brought modern plumbing and heating to the village, Nodoka managed to track down her—at once newest and oldest—daughter. Fa Shen was leaning against the opposite wall of the enclosed courtyard, panting in an effort to regain her composure, oblivious to the mess of food stuffs spilled over her during her blind demolition dodge through the pantry. As Nodoka reached out to pull the girl into a comforting embrace, however, Fa Shen suddenly noticed her disarray and held out her hands to stop her mother. 

            "No, don't. I'm a mess," Fa Shen scowled, running one hand over her brow to slick away a mixture of eggs, flour and various fluids from shattered jars of preserved fruits and vegetables. "It's okay, M-Mo—" she choked trying to utter the word she had used to address the woman in front of her the first time they met face to face. The difficulty was not that it was so improper to call Nodoka her mother, but that it was so hard to remember she was not Pa Shen when she did. Swallowing, and taking another calming breath, she met the woman's eyes and drew upon her connection to Ranma and Ranko, "I'm fine, Mom. I'm just not used to reacting like that to Shampoo. I just can't seem to remember she's really a girl—my friend—when she turns into a c- a c-c-ca—"

            "Shhhh. It's alright, you don't have to say the word," Nodoka comforted, when it became apparent that Fa Shen's brain had locked up on the name of her children's demonic dread. 

            If it had not been for Kasumi taking her aside many months ago, when she had arrived at the Tendo home with a special gift for Ranko, Nodoka might have been kept ignorant of yet another of her husband's and son's dark secrets. In an effort to appeal to Ranko's maternal instincts, Nodoka had bought the girl a kitten—a much more suitable pet for a young girl than a giant panda, however well trained. Kasumi had met her at the door and stunned Nodoka with her reaction. Her normal cheerful smile turned into a manic grin at the sight of the fluffy bundle, and she had vanished for an instant, reappearing with her purse and shopping bag to drag Nodoka rapidly away from the house. 

            Nodoka had not been the least put out by this wordless demand to accompany the eldest Tendo daughter on a shopping trip, but she could not help but comment on the eccentricity of Kasumi's behavior. Once the girl had found them a private booth at a local café and they had been served their drinks, Kasumi had told her the story of the Cat Fist training her "cousin" Ranko Tendo had undergone. Naturally, Nodoka had been horrified. It gave her some insight into the reasons why the girl had always seemed estranged from her family. When she had demanded to know that Ranko's father had been punished for abusing his daughter in such a horrible fashion, Kasumi had decided to mince words. As she put it, Ranko's father was every bit as driven as Nodoka's husband to make his child the greatest martial artist of her generation, a mission staunchly endorsed by Ranko's mother. 

            "But here is the problem, Auntie," Kasumi had met her with stern and troubled eyes. "Whatever fault lies with her father for his stupidity, the fact remains that she now possesses a weakness severe enough to violate the terms of her family's pact. Her father has forbidden her to see her mother until she can cure herself of the afflictions caused by his mistakes in training. In effect, she has no mother, and because of his own shame and irresponsibility, she enjoys neither the comfort, confidence or support of her father."

            "This is… Oh, Kasumi! This is simply beyond reason!"

            "It is, however, a matter of honor," Kasumi sighed and sipped her tea. With a wistful look, she added, "As you are, yourself, party to a similar arrangement with your son, I find myself curious. Please keep in mind that I pose this as an example only—and nothing more—but your frank opinion in this matter might give me some insight into how Ranko's mother would respond…" Nodoka raised an eyebrow, nodding to indicate that she anticipated the question. Kasumi offered a nervous smile and looked down, "If Genma had made such a mistake with your son, would you…?"

            Nodoka blinked at the memory. Kasumi had trailed off at the sight of her clutching at her wrapped katana and hastily dismissed the question, begging forgiveness for subjecting Nodoka to such an unpleasant hypothesis. Still, Nodoka had thought about it from time to time. It had encouraged her to present herself more and more as a surrogate mother for Ranko while undermining her confidence in her son's upbringing. Her belief that Genma, who had suffered so much at the hands of Happosai, would never subject her son to such abusive methods of training—whether because of the contract he had signed or to spare his son the indignity Genma had suffered—was shaken. She had adjusted, twisting her mind around the things the Master's training might encourage, once removed, and telling herself that Happosai's methods did at least stimulate very masculine attitudes. She prepared herself for the possibility that Genma might interpret the man-among-men contract in such a way that Ranma might be aggressively sexual, and reminded herself that without her influence he might indulge it in a shameless fashion. With a heavy heart, she abandoned the hope of Ranma being a true gentleman, but satisfied herself that a rogue did not necessarily violate the pact. 

            It was rather funny, now, to see how she had misled herself. She had made a right fool of herself going on about Ranma's manliness, whenever events had transpired in which she narrowly caught her son engaged in rather perverted activities. In truth, Ranma was far from the womanizing, sexual athlete she had duped herself into expecting. As she had only just learned, all three of her children were embarrassingly naïve about sex, and completely at a loss over what to do about the extraordinary development of their sexuality. If not for the long talk she had with Dr. Tofu on what to expect in this area from the three of them, what she had overheard this afternoon would have caused her a string of coronaries, embolisms and conniption fits. In fact, she was rather grateful Ranko had passed out, and Fa Shen had flipped out, before Cologne could drag her into confronting her children over it. 

            Fa Shen, almost fully recovered from her panic, noticed the shudder that accompanied the flitter of thoughts over Nodoka's face. "Are you okay, Mom?"

            "Hmmm? Oh, I was just thinking… Are you feeling better? I am sure Co—Mother has returned Shampoo to normal by now. Why don't you go inside and take a bath? You've made quite a mess of yourself," she smiled tenderly, turning to lead the way back to the house. As Fa Shen nodded, Nodoka added, "In you go then. You may as well take your time. There was something Elder Cologne and I wished to speak to you and your siblings about, but I suppose it is best to wait until Ranma is finished sparring with Ryouga and has a chance to clean up," she opened the door and gestured Fa Shen inside. "I expect we can sit down to it after dinner."

            "Okay," Fa Shen smiled, holding herself cautiously as she meandered off toward the bath, to keep from dripping anything on the floor as she went. It did not occur to her to wonder how Nodoka knew Ranma was off sparring with the lost boy, as her mother drifted away towards the kitchen. At the door to the bathroom, she found a clean patch of her clothing and wiped her hand on it before reaching for the knob. Once inside the changing room, she stripped down and deposited her clothing into the hamper. She could hear Shampoo on the other side of the screen humming cheerfully in the bath and let out the breath she had been holding. "Good, she's human again."

            Slipping into the bath chamber, with a smile and a wave to Shampoo, she found herself momentarily at a loss as Japanese and Amazon bathing habits conflicted inside her skull. In her own time, she did her bathing out of a basin using a ladle to rinse—at least when she bathed indoors. Otherwise she had been limited to washing in a stream and soaking in a hot spring protectively isolated from the village proper. On her travels, she had visited her share of bath houses, but only her time in Nerima had really acquainted her with the concept of a private bath—and that was deeply reinforced with experiences she had acquired from Ranko. While the tub Shampoo lounged in was far too small and incorrectly proportioned to be a proper furo, she could perch on the stool in the neighboring shower stall and wash properly before entering the clean, hot water with her sister at arms. Previously, she had simply followed Ranko's lead when they had bathed together. How odd it seemed that, left to her own devices, she became so conscious of the decisions she would otherwise automatically make in order to simply bathe.

            Or maybe, she was distracting herself with these thoughts to avoid the weight of Shampoo's attention from the moment she had entered. She had recognized that keenly appreciative and hungry look the instant she had met the other amazon's eyes. Fa Shen reminded herself that Shampoo had reason enough to have developed an interest in her form, since she had spent the better part of a year in serious anticipation of consummating a marriage with "Ranma". Fa Shen was painfully aware of where that desire had led Shampoo, and how her own curiosity and drug enhanced arousal had contributed. If Fa Shen had been "man" enough, the pair of them would be married. She heard the bath water sloshing as Shampoo slipped out, prowling in her direction and Fa Shen swallowed hard. 

            As the other girl slipped into the stall, her hand went to the faucet and turned it to a hotter setting. Without a word Shampoo knelt behind Fa Shen, and began to scrub her back with a soapy brush. Fa Shen could feel the heat of a blush spreading through her skin as the other girl massaged a lather into it. In much the same way the body she inhabited had a muscle memory of intimacy with Ryouga, she felt instant nervousness at Shampoo's touch that harked back to the many times that girl had cornered "Ranma" in the nude, in either form. It was an automatic response dating back to the months before the cursed mirror split this body off from the original. And while Fa Shen was spared the kind of reaction she would have had in her own body, there were consequences to having sex with Shampoo that were more than skin deep. 

            "Shampoo," she breathed hesitantly, turning around to face the other amazon and put some distance between them. "I don't think this is…" As she came around, her words were cut off by the other girl leaning in and seizing her lips with her own. Fa Shen tried not to respond to the kiss, delicately warding off the arms that moved to encircle her as she pulled away. "Please. I can't do this…"

            Shampoo allowed her to pull back until she had her back to the tiled wall of the shower stall. Then she pushed forward against her, pinning Fa Shen in place with her warm, supple flesh. In Mandarin, she challenged, "Why not? What are you afraid of, Fa Shen?"

            Fa Shen grimaced, gathering her wits and restoring her composure. "I'm not afraid of anything. I just can't… I can't explain it, but believe me, it wouldn't be fair to Ranma."

            Shampoo studied her with a sharp eye and a taunting grin. "It wouldn't be fair to Ranma?" she chuckled throatily. "I expected you to say Ranko." She shifted her weight, settling closer and incidentally forcing Fa Shen's legs apart, leaving her sprawled somewhat helplessly against the tile. With a probing gaze she demanded, "What does this have to do with Ranma?" When Fa Shen avoided her gaze and moved to pull her feet under her, Shampoo dropped her hands to the red-head's thighs and leaned in to thwart her. "I thought you'd prefer this. Don't you want me to give up on Ranko? Is there anyone else who can replace her in my heart? Who can be what I long for more than you?"

            Fa Shen sucked in her breath, remembering their time in the compact, on the long trek across China. In the week they had spent confined with Akane, Ukyo and Nodoka, Shampoo had finally gotten around to confiding her hopes and dreams of a life shared with Ranma/Ranko. How Shampoo had longed for the possibility of an equal and friend that her prospective husband's curse had offered. How it explained her unswerving devotion to Ranko when Ranma was split off from her. Fa Shen needed no explanation. She had grown up an amazon herself, and she understood Shampoo's disdain of men, especially amazon men. From experience, Fa Shen knew the other girl had no qualms about men on a physical level, but a man could only satisfy her needs. It took another woman to satisfy her desires. "In case you've forgotten, I've been challenged by Herb," Fa Shen grasped for an excuse. 

            Shampoo pulled back a bit, her hands sliding sensuously down Fa Shen's thighs. "This isn't a challenge. I… I know I blundered my way into it, but… I'm only acting on the claim I have. While I can, since, as you point out, Herb might claim you for his own. I just want…" Shampoo bit her lip. "What we did before. I was… dishonest, but in my heart I meant what I said, when I seduced you. I want the pleasure of your company, your friendship, with no strings attached. I want… I need… someone safe. I am sorry I made it sound like…"

            Fa Shen listened, waiting for her to complete her thought. 

            "I can't just give up on… on… what I feel. Don't you understand?" Shampoo looked up with a tortured expression. "If I could, I'd try to hold on to all three of you, make you all mine." She reached for Fa Shen's hand and gripped it in her own. "When it first happened, it was like… the reflections were just the hands. Nice to hold, nice to have, but not worth giving up the heart, the whole for," she laid an open palm against the swell of Fa Shen's left breast, off center toward the middle of her chest. "So I had to keep loving Ranko. But I came to understand, in each part is the whole. I see you all in each other, so I will never love one without loving the rest." The pressure of the girl's palm on her chest sent a thrill of desire rushing through Fa Shen's body, against which she closed her eyes. Shampoo made a clipped, strangled sound. Letting her hands drop, she finished by lowering her eyes and self-consciously adding, "Except, of the three, you are the one I gave myself to. You are the one who… who holds on to me."

            Fa Shen looked startled by that confession. She really should not have been, considering her own observations about the physical impact of intimacy on a person. Swallowing, she shook her head, her voice sounding disconcertingly soft and low, as if it had deepened in memory of passion, "I… I have no claim on you Shampoo. No more than you have on me. What… what happened was foolish and almost disastrous for us both. I… I don't think either of us, the use of curses aside, can be man enough to satisfy the tribal laws of marriage."

            Shampoo sighed at the protest. "You mean you didn't notice?"

            Fa Shen blinked. "Notice what?" she squeaked. In shock, she realized that sound registered, again, far too low in her ears for such a noise. At the same time, she realized what it was that had captured Shampoo's attention and drawn it down, almost reverently, toward Fa Shen's lap. In a breathy rush, he exclaimed, "Ah, hell! I did it again!"

It occurred to Ranma that letting Ryouga carry the kettle of hot water was a clearly stupid idea, an instant too late to do anything about it. The two had been roof hopping out of the village, discussing—if such a term could apply to the argument they had gotten into—the revelations the triplets had made during the late afternoon meal. Ranma should have taken the sudden turn in Ryouga's demeanor, the accusations that snapped out in angry, dejected tones, as a sign that the lost boy was taking the notion of Ranko becoming more of a participant in Ranma and Fa Shen's sexual explorations very negatively. It hardly mattered how earnestly Ranma protested against it, Ryouga was convinced that he had every intention of exploiting Ranko's curiosity—as well as her taut, sexy bod. The problem being that both boys were keenly aware of how frantic Ranko had been getting to explore her sexuality first hand, frustrated by the complications she faced if she turned to any of the people she could safely experiment with. The "conversation" had turned ugly when Ryouga promised, "I'll kill you before I let you destroy the woman I love again!"

            Ranma had reeled back in unexpected agony, all too painfully aware of how he had destroyed Ryouga's beloved. In that instant, whatever Ranko had done to disassociate Ranma from the passion of Copy-Ranko's love suddenly came unraveled. He gasped as the wound reopened in his mind and a searing, righteous, feminine rage washed through him. "I didn't have a choice! I didn't ask to wake up in your arms! I didn't ask to be forced back into being Ranma! I was ready to give that up to be with you! Even when Ranko took the lust, took away the understanding of being a girl, I loved you enough to try an' figure it all out again from scratch!" he shouted, lashing out wildly at the other boy. Ryouga stared back at him in shock, incapable of understanding this sudden, emotional outburst. "You gave up on me, Ryouga! You betrayed me! You went off with Akane to explore your girl side. You let me think you'd slept with h—HIM!"

            "Wha- What are you talking about!?" Ryouga stammered, absently evading the careless blows. He scowled, "You were the one who said the woman I loved was dead! You were the one who rejected me after you got back your guy side, when I tried to give you my girl side! Do you think that was easy? Do you  think I could do that for just anyone!?"

            "It was already too late!" Ranma almost shrieked. "If you'd come to me when you first turned into a girl, I'da done anything to help you. I came over that night to see if my feelings for you were stronger than for Akane! Once I realized that Ranko ended up with all the feelings I'd had from that night, how could I come between you!?" 

            "So you gave up on me!" Ryouga accused, his instincts suddenly catching on to the fact that he was, appearances aside, having a lover's spat—with the girl he had laid in a park in downtown Tokyo. "You kept pushing me off on Ranko! What did you expect, when both of you kept telling me she was the one! What the hell is this, now!? Why are you suddenly HER again!?"

            Ranma, in the process of leaping at Ryouga, suddenly went stiff as he realized what was happening in his mind. The look of shock on his face disarmed Ryouga, causing his guard to drop just as Ranma crashed into him. The pair dropped to the ground like a pile of rocks, the kettle slipping out of Ryouga's fingers to spill its contents as it tumbled free alongside them. As his body collided with the solid wall of masculinity, a switch in Ranma's head flipped. Ryouga's arms had reflexively embraced Ranma as the hot water drenched them, tightening when Ranma's form suddenly shifted to more curvy, petite proportions. Ranma broke out of his grasp with a shuddering gasp, landing stretched out on her belly, nose to nozzle with the kettle, her eyes focused on the glint of light reflected by the last drops of moisture that dripped free of its confinement. 

            "Ranma?"

            The redheaded girl twitched at the note of confused alarm. Rolling to her feet, she hugged herself, crying out plaintively to herself, "No! I can't BE Ranko anymore!"

            "Ranko!?" Ryouga gasped, having risen to his feet at the same time as her. Before she could move out of reach, he grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. Ranma could hardly resist the power of his grip, but raised her hands to cover her face quickly. Not quick enough to hide the shine of tears that suddenly poured down her cheeks. "What's going on!?" Ryouga demanded, feeling deeply unsettled. He remembered hearing the three describe how their minds, their memories pooled together every time Ranma and Fa Shen became intimate. He tried to imagine the confusion that must cause all three of them, but he was not sure if it could explain the apparent identity conflict Ranma was suddenly, obviously, experiencing. 

            Ranma pulled free again, tersely bending to retrieve the kettle and launching herself at the rooftops while sending over her shoulder, "We spilled your water, Ryouga! I can get more at the hot springs."

            Ryouga stared a second before racing to tail her. He did not dare let her out of his sight, and there was something instantly nagging at his mind. Something he had been warned about. Something about not going to the men's hot springs when he was in his girl form. His eyes widened and he poured on the speed, "Wait! Ranma! Which hot springs!?" 

            Ranma ignored the question, too caught up in the battle that was suddenly raging inside her. All she knew was that she had to stay away from Ryouga, or she would lose the last shred of being Ranma and become Ranko. At the moment, only the parts that were Copy-Ranko had taken hold of her, the parts that were contested equally by the persona of Ranma and the other Ranko. The Ranko who had Ryouga. The Ranko who would fully wake up if Ryouga touched her again. Unfortunately, it seemed like her flight was only a delaying tactic. Ranma could feel the elements of her psyche shifting in an irresistible tide. She recognized the feeling, something she had only experienced in the throes of passion. The feeling of becoming someone else. As this understanding bloomed, a more horrible realization struck her. If what she suspected was true, neither of the personalities currently vying for control were the person she ought to be. After all, it had only happened three times before, so by that count this was the second time she had forgotten who she really was. It even raised doubt if she was, or would ever be again, the person she was originally born as. 

The interior of Cologne's study was cool and dim. Under most circumstances there was a relative quiet as well, but the faint commotion that had approached the manor house suddenly surged to alarming proportions as the large group of people poured into the dining area below, rousing Ranko from unconsciousness. Her eyes flickered open, and her addled mind tried to make sense of the riot of voices vented upwards through the grill she had only recently taken note of. Then she remembered what she had realized upon that discovery and connected the commotion with the revelation of her trinity's sexual exploration to Cologne and Nodoka. Panic instantly set in, as she jerked up into a sitting position and whipped her head around. The absence of anyone else in the room was faintly reassuring, promising at least a moment to try and decide what she had to do. Obviously, the first thing she had to do was warn her siblings. 

            Since the sounds of blunt force trauma had not penetrated the confusion, nor did the deathly silence of those confronted by the naked steel of her mother's katana reign, it was a safe guess that neither Ranma nor Fa Shen was present in the room below. Closing her eyes and dropping the wall she had built up to shut out the echoes of her other selves, which had existed since the second triumvirate union, Ranko was able to sense the mood, distance and general direction of her twins. Thankfully, Fa Shen was very near, in the privacy of the bath. A very odd mix of emotions stirred in her twin, blending arousal, frustration, discomfort and dismay—a confusion Ranko instantly linked to an unwanted seduction. Sensing there was no time to lose, Ranko cloaked herself in her father's Umisen-ken and slipped downstairs, avoiding the throng of people spilling out into the hall outside the crowded dining room, and into the bath. 

            "Who in the world could be getting a rise outta her?" Ranko muttered wonderingly to herself, pausing at the door. The thing Fa Shen had most in common with Ranma was the way they'd both respond to some guy getting frisky with them. The only man she could think of who could put the moves on any of them was Ryouga, so she hesitated. Gritting her teeth, she decided she would have to kill him later, if he was in there. Getting Fa Shen out of the house was far more important. 

            It was as she slipped from the changing room into the bath chamber that she discovered Shampoo pinning a distinctly male Fa Shen down in the shower. The pair were clothed only in a veil of steam from the streaming water. Ranko stood staring in disbelief, as part of her mind worked out what must have triggered her twin's transformation and Shampoo somewhat ruthlessly undermined whatever self-control Fa Shen possessed with her seductive kisses and caresses. The girl-turned-boy's feeble protests had diminished to a plaintive mumbling interspersed with shudders of unwanted but undeniable pleasure. Ranko ground her teeth in annoyance, finding herself forced to fight off the effects herself, as Fa Shen's arousal heightened her sensitivity to her twin. 

            As the connection between the triplets was reflexive, Fa Shen suddenly gasped in awareness of Ranko's concealed presence. "Ranko!?" he gasped, finally shoving Shampoo back. Ranko dropped her cloak of invisibility as Shampoo whipped her head around to spot Ranko's intrusion.

            "Ranko! What you do, sneak up on Shampoo like that!?" she lapsed automatically into her broken Japanese. 

            Ranko glared at her twin, ignoring Shampoo. "So, what happened to worryin' about who's sleepin' with who in who's body?" Ranko challenged acidly. 

            "I-it's not like that!" Fa Shen blushed furiously, bouncing out of the shower stall to put Ranko between him and Shampoo. 

            "Whatever. We got bigger problems." Ranko turned her back on Shampoo and latched on to Fa Shen's arm, marching him out of the room. Her demeanor seemed iron clad, as she fought with the deepening arousal initiated by Fa Shen's activities and fed by the sight and feel of his naked flesh. Pausing in the change room, she growled huskily, "Get dressed. We need to find Ranma, fast."

            "What's going on?" Fa Shen asked, looking three breeds of perplexed as she juggled the embarrassment of being caught male-ified in the shower with Shampoo, the growing thrill of animal magnetism strengthening the feedback between him and Ranko, and the alarm aroused by her cryptic warning. 

            Ranko nudged him to dress, snapping, "Mom was upstairs with Cologne all day. They heard everything we said to Ryouga." Fa Shen choked trying to gulp and gasp at the same time. Ranko bit her lip. "From the sound of it, the whole place is in an uproar."

            "They told everyone!?" Fa Shen cried in disbelief. 

            "I don't really know WHAT is going on, but…" Ranko trailed off. Seeing Fa Shen had dressed in the instant he recovered from his shock, she grabbed his arm and urged him out into the hall, fading out of view. Fa Shen took the hint and cloaked himself a moment later. Blinded to each other, only Ranko's hand on his arm, and the resonant echoes they felt of each other, kept them aware of each other's presence as they ghosted through the house. Ranko had paused at a door, to check for observers before opening it, when Fa Shen pulled close to whisper in her ear.

            "Do you think we should spy on things before we go, get an idea what's going on?"

            "Too risky," Ranko muttered back. "I'm not all that sure the elders can't sense us, even in the Umisen-ken." Seeing the coast was clear, she carefully eased the door open so she and Fa Shen could slip out. Without dropping their invisibility, they both homed in on Ranma's location and began a roof vaulting sprint towards him. With a groan, Ranko realized where they were going to end up. The village hot springs, located up on the slope of one of the mountains girded by the amazon settlement. It made sense to stay near a source of hot water, to ensure that Ryouga could return to their "man to man" battle quickly if a surge of depression interrupted. Unfortunately, there were sure to be others, men, present bathing. Stopping, she slipped out of the Umisen-ken and turned to Fa Shen. He appeared, looking at her expectantly. "They're on the men's side. I'll get some hot water and meet you there."

            Fa Shen nodded, well aware the men's hot springs was one of the few areas where amazon men had full autonomy. It was their sanctuary, the one place where they were free of the restrictions of amazon society. Any woman foolish enough to trespass put her fate in the hands of the gods—and there could be no mistake about the gender of the deities in question. Even in male form, Fa Shen felt distinctly uneasy about visiting it as she parted company with her twin and continued racing towards Ranma. 

            As he reached the hot springs, he was absolutely shocked by what he saw. For whatever reason, the fact that Ranma was currently female did not really come as a surprise. After what happened with Shampoo in the shower, the transformation was inevitable if Ranma and Ryouga happened to get into a compromising position. In the same way that Fa Shen or Ranko could bring out Ranma's male side, Ryouga was certainly able to bring out Ranma's girl side. But, that did not explain why the girl Fa Shen saw battling with the score of men present at the hot springs was moving and fighting with Fa Shen's own signature style. The influence of Ranma's skill and expertise was present, but there was no mistaking the ease and familiarity with which the girl before him called upon Fa Shen's arsenal of unique martial art and ki techniques. Fa Shen had watched Ranma and Ranko both practicing, trying to tap into the original amazon's memory to harness the abilities Fa Shen possessed. As good as the pair were at adapting such things, they had both fumbled the faintest bit, hesitated as if forced to switch gears in order to proceed with the techniques. 

            In the same instant he assessed the girl's fighting signature, he assessed the battle in progress and realized she would eventually lose through attrition. The twenty odd men engaging her were among the best of the tribe's male martial artists. Even if Fa Shen did not know the men personally, it only took an instant to identify most of them as the sons and heirs of male outsiders who had married into the tribe through combat. It was the only way a man born in the tribe could legally be taught to fight. If his father had triumphed in a marriage duel, he had the right to train one son as his heir. The reasons for this were the same as those for allowing the men certain sanctuaries from normal tribal law. These carefully limited freedoms, and allowances for masculine ego, staved off the kind of dissent that could lead to a war of the sexes. Cursing under his breath, Fa Shen moved to join the fray. The outcome of the battle was forgone, the only thing to be decided was whether a single man or the whole mob claimed the spoils of combat. 

            "What the hell were you thinking, Ranma!?" Fa Shen demanded, as soon as he was close enough to shout, dividing his attacks between the "prize" and the competition. "You can't be that desperate to get laid! You certainly can't be this desperate to piss me off!" he challenged, the threat of dire retribution clear in his voice. 

            "I don't have time to explain this, Ranma," the girl cut back tersely. 

            Fa Shen jerked around to stare, barely restoring his guard before a storm of retaliatory strikes clobbered him into next year. "What did you call me!?" he demanded, dodging and evading the rain of blows to close in on Ranma. To his shock, a hand reached through his guard and whipped him around. His hand was cocked and lashing out almost before the face of his assailant came into focus. "Ryouga! What the hell is going on!?"

            Ryouga, who had been fighting to stay close to the red-headed girl in order to rant at Ranma, and urge her to flee from the men's hot springs, appealed to Fa Shen, "She's flipped out! Help me get her outta here!"

            "I'm right here, you know!" Ranma snarled as she whipped by. 

            Fa Shen and Ryouga batted down and deflected half a dozen men, to maintain their position on Ranma's flank. Fa Shen glared at Ryouga, "Flipped out? What do you mean?" He shifted his stance, spotting an opening he could use to snatch Ranma out of the air and race clear of the area. Before he could spring, Ryouga grabbed him and held him back. 

            "Don't. She'll zap you if you try that," he warned. He slugged a few more faces, and dragged Fa Shen along a few steps to keep close to Ranko. "This is as close as she'll let me get," he informed, before answering the questions Fa Shen posed. "This started in the village. We were arguing and then he—he was a guy still at the time—he started acting like- like- when he woke up and was mixed up with Copy-Ranko. Then he turned into a girl and she said something about how she can't be Ranko and rushed off. When I caught up, she was muttering something about waking up."

            "Waking up? Wha-"

            "Yeah, she said she wasn't supposed to be Ranma either, so she had to wake herself up. But she sounded a little scared too, and she asked me, 'What if I'm not really Fa Shen, though? What if Ranma and Fa Shen are both dead, and we're all just Ranko? Then what?' I- I- I don't… This is all my fault, but I don't get it at all! What did I do!?" Ryouga seized Fa Shen and stared into his eyes in despair. 

            "She thinks she's me?" Fa Shen gaped. Taking hold of the lost boy and whipping him out of the way of an incoming attack, he added, "Is that why she called me Ranma?"

            "What I wanna know-" he dodged another assailant then leapt off in Ranma's wake. "If she thinks she's you…" he continued when Fa Shen hurtled through the air beside him, trailing off to concentrate on leapfrogging off mens' heads in Ranma's wake. "What does she want to get gang raped for?" he finished as the three of them found perches on the shoulders of towering boulders. 

            Fa Shen huffed, while repelling a wave of men launching themselves up onto the boulders, "It's not like that. No man would dare drag a woman into sanctuary, but any girl who goes of her own free will is considered 'willing'." Fa Shen stared up at Ranma for a moment, as realization hit him. Turning back to Ryouga, he demanded, "Did she have a kettle when she came in here?"

            Ryouga nodded. 

            "What happened to it?"

            "She filled it up a while ago, but one of the men took it and ran off into the crowd," Ryouga answered, looking perplexed. 

            Fa Shen sighed heavily. "Damn. She's got to get that kettle."

            "Why? What's the point!?"

            "That's the challenge!" Fa Shen wheeled on him angrily, though more in anger with himself and Ran… Fa… the other Fa Shen. "It was one of my mother's training exercises. To fetch hot water from the men's hot springs. It was training to deal with my brother's marriage challenges. The risk of losing my virginity to a rabble of boys was as close to the risk of getting married to him—without the complications of marriage law—she could find."

            "Oo-okay. But what does that prove," Ryouga felt completely lost. 

            "I don't know. She probably found the memory and thought it would bring my personality to the front. I still don't know why she thinks she needs to be me. What did you do to Ranma?" Fa Shen asked accusingly. 

            Ryouga shrugged, "I tried to ask, but all she said was that you were all wrong about the body swapping. She said something about having to assimilate the memories you were trading."

            Fa Shen froze. 

            "There it is!" the red haired girl shouted, preparing to launch herself at a man in the throng below. 

            Fa Shen shouted, "Fa Shen!"

            The girl paused to look at him. "Later, Ranma"

            Fa Shen watched her rocket down from the precipice, throwing a ring-shaped ki blast to clear the area around the man she had targeted. With a frightening precision, she closed on him and snatched the kettle out of his hands, while beating him unconscious. In the seconds that took, the area she had cleared filled in, as masculine bodies pressed in on all sides to cut off her retreat. With one hand locked around the kettle, her ability to throw ki attacks was impaired. She managed to hit the first man who closed on her with a Raking Claws, drawing on the charged atmosphere left from a string of Vengeance of Heaven attacks, but others were able to close in on her flanks. Tucking the kettle up against her ribs, she weathered a punishing tide of striking feet and fists, shouldering her way through the crowd toward another boulder. Kicking a pebble up with her toes, she caught it in her free hand and launched it at the boulder, crying out a breaking point attack. The pebble, charged with a bit of ki, nicked the giant stone, causing it to detonate.

            As men threw themselves away from the explosion, covering themselves against the shrapnel, she launched herself up into the air and raced away from the hot springs. Ryouga and Fa Shen hesitated long enough to see that the men all shook off the dust, roaring with laughter and boastful comments to each other. Ryouga and Fa Shen exchanged looks, one surprised and the other wry. Even though the "prize" had gotten away, it appeared that the men had enjoyed themselves immensely. They hardly seemed like a mob of would be rapists. "It's all a game, Ryouga. The stakes are high, and sometimes the 'prize' is more willing, but there was never any serious risk of injury," Fa Shen enlightened the lost boy. "Come on. I want to find out what she thinks she's doing. I really, really hope…" but Fa Shen decided not to voice her concern. He raced off, dragging Ryouga along. As they reached the head of the path back to the village, they saw Ranko—now male—had arrived. 

The sun was setting, and under the canopy of trees, sheltering the pool and waterfall Ranma had led his siblings to that morning, only the light of a camp fire was holding back the cloak of darkness. Ranko found herself staring absently into the flames while thoughts ran rampant through her head. Beside her, also turned female courtesy of a misstep into the river, Ryouga looked perfectly normal. That was, lost. There had been an air of mourning hanging over their heads, aggravated by Ranko's revelation that Cologne and Nodoka had overheard them exposing their secret to Ryouga. With a male and a female Fa Shen sitting across the fire from them, it was hard not to get the feeling that Ranma had died, or that something terrible had happened to him. Onna-Fa Shen had given them a complete, detailed explanation of her ordeal, but Otoko-Fa Shen had been unable or unwilling to try and repeat her personality shift. On the surface, it seemed perfectly logical that Ranma and Fa Shen had not been swapping bodies during sex, but rather changing personalities to assimilate the experiences they swapped during the psychosexual fusion. 

            The trick was coming to terms with what that meant.

            Ranko raised her eyes to the female Fa Shen and tried to grapple with it again. "Let me see if I've got this right. When you were arguing with Ryouga about—" she swallowed, and hastily rephrased the question to brush over what she might or might not have attempted with Ranma. "When Ryouga said… you destroyed… well, you know…" Ranko sighed and rubbed her face. A glance to the side let her see the tortured and confused emotions on Ryouga's face. "You said you felt something tear open in your mind and all the feelings, the parts of myself I took back, flooded back into you. When that happened, the 'wall' between Ranma and- and me collapsed?"

            Fa Shen winced, painfully conscious of the minefield Ranko was navigating to ask that question. She gave Ryouga a studied look, then met her twin's gaze and nodded. "All the memories were there already, but… I don't know quite how to describe it. I guess the way the fit together, whatever made them a living part of me, had been choked off. When Ryouga accused me of destroying the person I had been, it was like- like I'd been accused of murder. But that couldn't be true, because that would mean it was me who was murdered. The very idea was impossible to swallow, and it- it-" Fa Shen hugged herself and looked down. "I had this moment of feeling like maybe I was dead and just didn't know it, and rejected it violently. I- it was like I jerked myself awake, but whatever I did, it was like I tore away whatever was cutting that part of myself off. Killing it."

            Ranko looked at Ryouga again, to see her reaction.

            Ryouga was looking down too, absorbing the tale and fighting with whatever emotions Onna-Fa Shen was eliciting. 

            "It was kind of like when your circulation has been cut off for a while, when the blood flow is restored. Parts of me that had gone numb came screaming back to life. It was very painful, and it made me lash out, say things Ranma could not have said with all those feelings confused or cut off," Fa Shen continued, hunching forward and shifting her arms to hug her knees to her chest. "I was all caught up in it, until I realized what was happening. About the same time I noticed it, I changed into a girl because of the way I felt about Ryouga. Except, I wasn't just switching back to the way Ranma was when he woke up. I could feel stuff that was you ready to take over. I was trying to be Ranko, but as Ranma I knew you'd claimed it, so I couldn't be you. If I had not thought that, remembered that, I don't think I could have stopped it from happening," she confessed miserable. "But I wanted it. I was so willing."

            There was a long pause as she fell silent and no one wanted to comment. Onna-Fa Shen cleared her throat and confided, "It felt the same as when Ranma and I traded places except there wasn't any of the- the erotic feelings to mask it. There wasn't one of your minds linked with mine, changing with mine."

            Otoko-Fa Shen shifted his weight, turning slightly to study his female half searchingly. Again, he had the eerie feeling of sitting outside himself. A feeling painfully similar to what happened when the reflections gained the memories of the original Ranko/Ranma. 

            "Why didn't you?" Ryouga asked softly. "I mean, what's different about you turning into Fa Shen with this Fa Shen still around?" Unvoiced was the question that was on all their minds. What happened to Ranma?

            "Well, obviously, what I was feeling made me realize that maybe I had not been trading bodies, but shifting from one personality to another. With all the memories shared between us, all that has to change is the perspective. After all, if we all have the same soul, what is it that changes places? How can I go somewhere I already am?" she posed perplexedly. "When I first met Ranko in that dream, I believed that our identities, our destinies, were unique. That it created enough of a difference between us that we had to be different people in order to coexist."

            Ranko frowned. She remembered the things she had struggled with when the mirror tossed her into her own identity crisis. She blurted out, "I was Ranma." The others turned to look at her, uncomprehendingly. She blinked out and repeated with emphasis, "I WAS Ranma. When I met Mom, I would sometimes be Ranko. The more stuff I did as Ranko, though, the more I became a different person when I was Ranko. It bugged me a lot, because it made me feel like maybe being Ranma was no different from being Ranko. The more they came to feel like different people, the less sure I was about who I really was."

            Fa Shen smiled with faint enthusiasm, realizing how her twin's comments illustrated her point. "The problem, you see, is that we ARE the same person. On the inside. I am not so sure I really am Fa Shen. I'm only sure that I once WAS Fa Shen, and since—"

            "I am Ranko," the other girl cut in perfectly.

            "—and you," she turned to the male red-head, "were Ranma, there really wasn't any problem with me being Fa Shen again. If we kept our lives separate, if we all have different experiences, then the illusion that we're different people holds up. But, every time we pool our experiences, we have to sort out who we're supposed to be."

            "But, if that's true, why hasn't Ranko switched places?" the male Fa Shen asked, pouncing on the inconsistency. 

            Onna-Fa Shen turned to meet Ranko's eye and they both shrugged at the same time. "Maybe because I wasn't having sex? Maybe because I sort it out as I take it in, or because I'm a mix of Ranma and Fa Shen?" Ranko guessed. 

            "Or maybe," Onna-Fa Shen suggested, "the flood of ki you always have to deal with interferes somehow." They all paused thoughtfully at that. 

            "There's only one way to test it, and if you're right, we might not want to risk it," Ranko swallowed nervously. Shaking it off, she turned to her twins and demanded, "But, for now, what about Ranma?"

            "As far as I can tell, it's a question of who wants to be Ranma. We're all capable of it," Onna-Fa Shen pronounced, standing up and walking around the fire, skirting the other three. She came to a stop behind Otoko-Ranma, and laid a hand on his shoulder and gestured to herself, "I decided I was Fa Shen because, this is the body I woke up in first. But I know how I'd react if anyone asked me to stop being me to become Ranma. All I've really done is copy Ranko, making up my own mind about who I am."

            Otoko-Fa Shen stiffened. He could not think of anything more difficult to face than this. Two out of three of them had taken a stand to assert their claim to an identity, leaving him only one choice if he wished to do the same. On the surface, it did not seem like a choice, but unless he made that choice Ranma would effectively cease to exist. It only became more scary as he dared to look within himself and found that everything he needed to be Ranma was there, except the thing that turned all the pieces into a whole. One thing was certain, the girl who loomed over him really was Fa Shen. She screamed it with every word, every gesture, and it had seriously freaked him out. It inspired an insane desire to fight for his identity, starting with dousing Ranko with hot water in the hope that her male form would trigger his reversion to female form, to level the playing field. He could not remember anything that felt as threatening to him as this other Fa Shen's mere presence. 

            "Don't take this the wrong way, but I really wish you'd decided to be Ranko," he grumbled, fighting to keep the pain and frustration out of his voice. A sudden thought flashed in his brain, and sent rivers of electricity down his spine. With a look of abject horror, he breathed, "Would you please stop touching me."

            Onna-Fa Shen flinched and as her hand jerked away, she seemingly teleported to the other side of the fire, her face a positive mirror of his, quickly melting into a look of blatant shame. "I'm sorry. I wasn't… thinking of… THAT."

            "It wouldn't take long," the boy replied with a tremor. 

            "Wha-?" Ryouga looked from one to the other in confusion. 

            Ranko studied her twins. 

            "We'll… find some other way…" Fa Shen, both of them, said. 

            "Are we missing part of this conversation?" Ranko asked. 

            Both nodded. The looks they exchanged spoke volumes. 

            "You synched up."

            They both nodded again. Ranko sighed and put her head in her hands. After a moment, she looked up and suggested, "Maybe if we form the circuit again, the two of you will merge and Ranma will be able to resurface?"

            They looked at her and, with a flicker of meeting eyes, swallowed. "What do you think we were arguing about?" they demanded in unison. 

            Ranko frowned, straining her brain to puzzle out, from her own memory of Fa Shen, what they were talking about. "Arguing? How can you be thinking the same thing and call it an argument? What is it you two are so edgy about?" she probed, ransacking her brain for some clue. From the looks she was getting, she had better find the answer herself. They were determined to keep her in the dark. She thought of the expressions on their faces when he had asked her to stop touching him. They had looked… not afraid, exactly. More like mortified. Ranko covered her eyes, sifting through the echoes of Fa Shen in her, in search of something that might arouse such a feeling. To her surprise, she quickly came across it. Something Fa Shen had fantasized about. Something she had rejected almost instantly, because it would have involved Ranko intimately. Something Fa Shen had thought only Ranko could offer. Something one step more… perverse… than what she had experienced with Ranma. 

            Ranko burst out laughing and turned to stare at both of them. "Is that what you want!?" she blurted out. She doubled over and roared with mirth, squeezing her eyes tight to catch the tears that wanted to stream out. Male and female, Fa Shen stared daggers at her, clenching fists and tensing their legs to spring at her. Ranko wiped her eyes and stood, when the riot of humor relaxed its grip. "You've gotta know I've fantasized about that since… well, since I had a clue what sex was. Maybe even before that. Why do you think I was so jealous of you and Ranma!?"

            Ryouga pulled at her collar and cleared her throat nervously, before complaining, "Would someone please tell me what you all are talking about?"

            Ranko turned to the lost girl and grinned somewhat manically, "Hey, Ryouga. Since you've gotten your girl curse, have you found yourself wondering what it'd be like if you could, you know, be both sides at the same time? Together?"

            Ryouga stared wide eyed for one second, before grinning and flushing to her roots. "Um. Ah. You see…"

            Ranko laughed, "Right. If I had the chance, I'd do me in a heart beat! It seems so much less complicated than seducing Ranma or Fa Shen, or someone I'd have to get married to on the spot. Talk about making my life a lot easier!"

            The two Fa Shens blushed furiously. 

            Ranko got serious, "Look. I'm really starting to miss Ranma. This is the only thing I can think of that won't make you feel like you're fighting over your identity. I've been there twice, and it really sucks. Give Ranma a chance to choose himself. Please."


	7. Part Seven

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Seven

The absence of the Saotome Triplets had not gone unnoticed, but Nodoka and Cologne shared the opinion that it was better none of them were present when Akane was escorted into the Matriarch's home. At least, if the grieving note of self recrimination lacing their discussion with Ryouga was any indication. None of them would have reacted well to the shock of Akane's transformation into a man again, and the specifics of how and why it happened would have sent them off on a guilt trip significantly more orbital than even Akane's famous mallet could launch. Nor did the two women feel they would have had much success calming Akane if Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen were present. He had come in the door, trailed by dozens of shocked amazons, swinging wildly between hysterical laughter and bitter tears, set off in turns by the comments the natives made about his transformation as they tried to inform Cologne about what they had witnessed or surmised about the situation. 

            It had taken long enough to drive out the spectators and gather the most learned elders at the table, and finally begin coaxing the truth out of the youngest Tendo. It was going to take even longer to draw out the complete story from Akane, since the beginning of his tale caused such an uproar among the old women. Certainly, they had all heard the rumors about Akane accusing the triplets of incestuous infidelities. But before they could accuse Akane of making up the story of catching them in the act, both Nodoka and Cologne shocked them—and Akane—by verifying that it was true. 

            "Bu- Wha- H-How!? You KNEW about it!?" Akane exploded. 

            "Sit. Down." Cologne waited until Akane stiffly returned to his seat, the magnificent corona of spiritual flames diminishing to a flicker under the neo-boy's skin akin to smoldering coals. Clearing her throat, she explained, "As it happens, Nodoka and I found out about this only this afternoon. We overheard the three of them explaining the situation to Ryouga. Not that it comes as a surprise, really. Both I, and apparently your Doctor Tofu, had suspected this might happen, given their unique situation."

            Akane stared at the older women. Around him, Shampoo, Ukyo, Mousse and the assembled elders exchanged studied and curious looks. 

            "Perhaps you should elaborate," one of the elders suggested. 

            "This really is not the crisis we are here to discuss," Cologne reminded them, looking pointedly at Akane. "Since it bears on Akane's situation, I'll tell you the significant parts, but we are not going to discuss or debate this topic until Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen can participate—"

            "If they no running for hills," Shampoo muttered, cringing as she realized she had interrupted her great-grandmother. When Cologne turned on her with a demanding look, she meekly announced, "Ranko come into bath, break up Shampoo and Fa Shen getting, er… Shampoo help washing Fa Shen's back, Ranko come in drag Fa Shen off. Shampoo try hurry to follow, hear Ranko tell Fa Shen Nodoka and Great-Grandmother hear everything, must go find and warn Ranma. Then they both vanish in thin air. Shampoo no see them since. Come in here and find Akane is man again."

            There was a pause, and then Nodoka asked, looking apprehensive, "Do- do you think that either of them knows about Akane?"

            Shampoo shrugged. 

            Cologne cleared her throat, "We will have to worry about that later, Daughter. One problem at a time." She turned back to her audience, focusing on Akane but taking in everyone at the table. "Akane, if you caught Ranma masturbating in the furo, would you feel that he was cheating on you?"

            Akane blushed furiously, glaring at Cologne for having the audacity to ask him such a question. "I don't care what that pervert does!" she growled. 

            Cologne whacked him on the head. "This is not the time to indulge in your jealousy and insecurity, Child. Now, answer the question."

            Akane hunched, rubbing his head. In an extremely embarrassed voice, he shrugged, "I am sure that- that- that PERVERT can't even stop himself. You don't want to know how many times I caught him at it! That- that sick JERK did it as a GIRL more often than he did it as a BOY!" 

            There was a strangled noise from Nodoka. Too late, Akane realized that was one of the secrets he should have kept to himself forever. In a smaller voice, he amended, "Well… I forgot, he- SHE was really Ranko inside back then, so I guess it makes sense she'd like it better like that…" Akane swallowed, wondering why that seemed to make it sound even worse. 

            Cologne resisted the urge to laugh aloud, but a definite smirk was straining it's way onto her face. "Yes. Well. That is an interesting observation, if not precisely an answer to the question."

            Akane flushed again, forcing his mind to dredge up the exact words of Cologne's question. Running them through his head, he nodded sheepishly and answered, "It- it wouldn't be cheating."

            "There," Cologne smiled cheerfully. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" There was a round of subdued laughter from the elders. The younger witnesses looked about as uncomfortable as Akane, studying random objects and avoiding meeting anyone else's eyes. Cologne rapped the table with her knuckles, "Very well then. You've all been told that, Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen are all the same person. The fact that that person has three different bodies, three different identities, and three different lives, only confuses the issue. The different facets only made it seem more likely that they would act on being drawn to each other."

            "Huh?" the younger group blurted. 

            Cologne sighed. "Ranma and Fa Shen are two sides of the same coin, the male and female version of the same person. In their normal lives, only one side of that coin was ever shown. Because of reincarnation and the cursed springs, Ranko was created, a version of that person who could show both sides of the coin. When she encountered the mirror, it confronted her with reflections of each side of that coin—but it was like the Cat's Whiskers Splitting Hairs technique. The metal of the coin, the solidity of it—her soul—was whisked around in a flurry to create the illusion that there were three coins." Cologne paused and looked at her audience until looks of comprehension dawned in even the slowest witted. Clearing her throat, Cologne continued, "What happened should never have happened. At least, it violated the normal rules of reincarnation by resurrecting the original Fa Shen and Ranma."

            "What do you mean, 'should never have happened'!?" Ukyo asked angrily, rising up in her seat accusingly. "Are you telling us Fa Shen should have stayed dead!? That Ranma should have become Ranko!?"

            "It would have been best," Cologne returned sternly, glaring at the okonomiyaki chef until she settled back down. "It would have been more difficult for Ranko to emerge from Ranma under the normal circumstances, but the fact remains that Ranko is the solution, the perfect blending of Fa Shen and Ranma. I did not expect her to survive their awakening. They literally ripped her in half, left an afterimage of the coin in her place. I expected them to be horribly scarred or crippled, each holding only half the coin, neither having the other side to balance them out. In terms of relative power, they were as whole as any normal person, but incomplete. 

            "I thought this was proven by each of them being drawn into the wrong body, each spiritual gender drawn into bodies of the opposite physical sex," Cologne confided. With a faint laugh, she carried on, "I never anticipated what would happen if they brought the two sides of the original coin together. 

            "I see now that I was completely wrong about the mirror in Ranm- Ranko's case," she finally admitted. There was a swell of murmurs that was quickly silenced when she explained, "If the reflections had slept with each other, the outcome would have been the same as when Ranma and Fa Shen had sex. Divided as they were, coming together in that way opens the door to creating new life. Being of the same soul, instead of sparking the birth of a new soul, it unlocked that soul allowing it to flood the existing vessels. They poured new metal into an existing mold. It made all three of them solid and whole!"

            There was another pause as the audience digested this. 

            "I'm not sure I understand," Ukyo broke into the silence. 

            "Well, that was a different way of explaining what we already know," Cologne reminded her. "Ranko was barely clinging to life, a healthy body desperately sheltering the wisp of spirit freed from the curse I cured. She had a physical reality, but most of what she was had been divided between Ranma and Fa Shen. She was an echo that was fading gradually from reality. Only the infusion of ki from Ranma and Ranko could save her. We expected the pair would have to process their own ki and supply her with the excess freed up through sexual activity. The amount of energy given up to conceive a baby is only the spark that lights the flame, however. Nowhere near sufficient to sustain an adolescent human being in the full flower of life. 

            "The surprise, of course, was when Ranko was fully healed during one liaison between Ranma and Fa Shen," Cologne stood up and crossed her arms. "I noticed it at once, but with the distractions at the time I decided not to confront them with my suspicions. I knew they had stumbled onto something much greater than simply healing Ranko and themselves, but they were reluctant to confide in me. Today I learned I was right. When Ranko was healed, the three of them forged a connection to the raw, limitless potential of their soul. It is only opened by intercourse and with it, they can harness the power of a god." She hopped up onto her staff, and looked down on the room from that perch. Seeing her listeners were too shocked to react, she turned to look at Akane, "Ranma and Fa Shen have been sleeping together in order to allow Ranko to master this power, to protect themselves and everyone else from it."

            Akane stared up at the tiny elder, his mouth flapping in disbelief. 

            Nodoka frowned, "But, I thought they were trading bodies to master their curses."

            Cologne looked at her adopted daughter. "They are mistaken about the side effect of these unions. I do wish they had come to me at the beginning, but I suspect they will figure it out themselves. Individually they are not be underestimated, and collectively I cannot put anything past them."

            One of the elders let out a pent up breath, "If these are just the highlights, I'm afraid to hear the full story! The power of a god, you say!?"

            Cologne shuddered, "The power, yes. But not the restraints and wisdom of a god. More like a force of nature unleashed. A sun brought down to the surface of the Earth, only possessed of will and intelligence. If not for what I already know about the child, I would be terrified to even contemplate it."

            "You can't be serious," Akane babbled. 

            Cologne cleared her throat, "As I warned, that is all I intend to say on this for now. It was important for you to know, Akane, why your fiancé 'betrayed' you. Now, let us focus on what we can do about your situation."

            Akane stared for a moment, then nodded, gratefully pushing all but this conclusion from his mind. If any of Cologne's tale was to be believed, the triplets had a lot more on their minds this morning than what their actions would mean to Akane. Swallowing a lump of heartache, he remembered Ranko's reaction to his intrusion that morning, the wild, overwhelming nature of the power she had been struggling to harness, the red-head's concern about Akane getting himself hurt by interrupting her practice. "I think… I've seen the power you are talking about," Akane gasped, sweating suddenly, remembering the sensual feelings evoked by Ranko's restrained aura. It had been raw, erotic, seductive. 

            Akane repeated his story, paying closer attention to the details, reconstructing the confrontations of that day, and examining his reactions. "I didn't understand… It just hurt so much that he- they could do something like that. I mean, I thought they trusted me now. I thought, since they knew I knew it had happened once, to heal Ranko… if there was a REASON for them to do something like that, I'd understand. As bad as it was, for them to be doing that, to be sneaking around, even if it wasn't exactly cheating—they could have at least tried to explain THAT—knowing they didn't trust me, it- it-"

            Akane covered his face, trying to fight back the feelings that had dominated him all day. "It hurt so much. It made me so angry. But it also made me feel so terrible about everything. The more angry I got, the more it hurt, and the more it hurt, the more I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. So I just got more angry. It didn't help to take it out on Ranma. That made it worse," he confessed. He described the last confrontation, careful not to state right out that he had clobbered Ranko, but only that he had realized he was so angry he might, if she came up to him in male form. "So, I just left the village. I found someplace to think past the fields, and about an hour later I did the ki blast that turned me into a guy!" he sobbed. 

            This being the reason for being there, the elders had listened to the whole story, and then proceeded to question Akane for specifics. By the time they were finished, the sun had long fallen below the horizon, lamps had been lit, a meal served and picked over. Akane had no appetite. The ordeal he had gone through on his way to China, the growing dread of ending up forever transformed into a man, had finally reached it's pitiless conclusion, and he could not deny he had truly brought it down on his own head. 

            "I don't see anything left to talk about," he said bitterly, as plates were cleared away by Mousse and Shampoo. "The Nyanniichuan was destroyed when Fa Shen got thrown back into it. Instant Nyanniichuan won't help, since this curse is like Ryouga's pig curse! I'll just turn back into a guy the next time I lose my temper, and even I know that happens a hundred times a day!" He made to get up and leave, but a voice interrupted his dramatic exit. 

            "That is incorrect."

            "Wha-?"  
            The old woman who spoke up met Akane's glare. "Anger alone will not reactivate your curse. All the witnesses described the color of your ki projection. It was teal. That signifies a mixture of anger and depression, both emotions usually laced with pain. The ki technique you have created is fueled by defiance," she calmly pronounced. Seeing Akane pause and settle back into his seat, the old woman smiled, "I also dispute the need for using any form of Nyanniichuan as a remedy. These mutated curses you and your friend have been inflicted with originated as Jusenkyo curses, the mechanism of which I have studied in exhausting detail."

            "Huh?" chorused, Mousse, Shampoo and Akane. 

            "That right!" Shampoo pealed after a second look at the woman. "This Po Shen, Matron of Mysteries, she village expert on magic. She trying for ages to find cure for Jusenkyo curses," Shampoo informed her Neriman peers. 

            Po Shen grinned at Shampoo's enthusiasm. The girl had been trying to corner her since her return to the village, desperate to learn the status of her cure research. "Thank you, Shampoo. I forgot to introduce myself," she patted the purple-haired amazon before returning her attention to Akane. "Now, all Jusenkyo curses have a built in reversal mechanism. I do not see why that should change simply because the trigger has been altered. There is a simple experiment I can perform to determine if your true form is still locked away in your ki. It is something I have come up with to test women applicants for locked or mastered curses, to ensure candidates wishing to join the tribe truly are women. I need but a moment to prepare the test, if you are interested."

            Akane considered that. " You don't think my real form was lost? You think I might be able to change back to normal?"

            "Not at all. You've recovered your 'lost' male form well enough. My guess is that you re-infected yourself with the full curse. If I am correct, it will only be necessary to discover what will trigger it's reversal," Po Shen reassured Akane. "I'll be back momentarily. Don't you worry, Child. All is not lost."

            One of the elders commented, after Po Shen bustled out of sight, "It was these weird side effects from the Instants that convinced her they could not be relied upon as cures to the curses. I wonder if she thinks this might show her how to use them a different way?"

            "Not much of a cure if it can only be used by ki adepts."

            "What did you say?" Akane whipped around. "Did you call me a ki adept?"

            "What would you call an individual who could have leveled this village with the attack you let off? I think it's fortunate that you were not upset with US all day, or you certainly would have kept aiming in the same direction," the woman retorted somewhat soberly. Then, with a dramatic sigh and wicked grin, "That Ranma certainly landed a husband worthy of herself!"

            "Erk!" Akane choked, as Mousse and Shampoo laughed at him. 

In spite of the fact that Ranko's suggestion sounded plausible, that Ranma was liable to resurface if they lost themselves in the fusion of sex, the two Fa Shen's hesitated to act on her request. For one thing, they were not about to strip down and go at it right there in front of Ryouga. For another, Ranko had not been entirely correct in her guess about Fa Shen 'fantasizing' about experiencing sex as man and woman at the same time. What happened in the circuit was close enough to satisfy any curiosity Fa Shen had about that experience, since once the boundaries of identity dissolved, she had found herself in that state anyway. The truth was, she was frightened by the thought of finding herself in that position with just herself—without, as she had experienced each time before, Ranko's personality dominating the event. From the look they exchanged, Onna- and Otoko-Fa Shen caught each other wondering why Ranko had not realized that her fantasy was the reality of their trinity's unions. How could Ranko have missed the fact that she was the gestalt, the personification of any union of Ranma and Fa Shen? How could she miss the fact that, while Ranma and Fa Shen started and finished it, it was always in truth Ranko who was having sex with herself? That Ranma and Fa Shen literally lost themselves in the event?

            Fa Shen, looking at her male duplicate, in dread. It was bizarre, but somehow the act that could bring two strangers closer than anything else promised to open a rift within herself wider than she could fathom. Ranma's presence, at the start and finish, and Ranko's domination through the act, gave her the illusion of intimacy with another that she desperately needed to cope with the intimacy. That was all that let her view it as sex, and not masturbation. It was all that kept her from being mortified with shame at herself. 

            Fa Shen, looking back at the female version of himself, could easily guess her thoughts, but found his obsessed with a more poignant realization. He had painfully comprehended the process Onna-Fa Shen described, the manner in which her identity had shifted from that of Ranma, through that of Ranko, to settle into being Fa Shen. It was exactly what Fa Shen had described to Ranko in the dreamscape before awakening in his new body. If Fa Shen tried to be Ranko, Fa Shen effectively ceased to exist. It was a paradigm shift. Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen were all the same person, but the differences were in how that person understood his or her own existence. Which brought to mind the problem he faced now. 

            Fa Shen was not man enough to engage in intercourse with any of the three women present. Not because the attraction, the lust, was not there, but because of the way he would react to each of them. Fa Shen, Ranko and Ryouga would each arouse the part of him, currently dormant, that was Ranma. The desire HE felt for the three far outstripped any feelings Fa Shen had for them as a man. If one of them were Onna-Ranma, he could get over it, because Ranma would be just as repelled at the idea of screwing his female self. So, the only way he could stay Fa Shen, was if Ranko or Onna-Fa Shen became Ranma. But they had already made their choices about who they were in this triumvirate. Again, that seemed to leave him without a choice. But that was an illusion. There was a clear choice. The choice to accept the truth. To accept that he was Ranma, had been all along, and merely believed at the moment that he was Fa Shen.

            Which was rather mind boggling. 

            The difficulty really was not in choosing to accept that truth. To reclaim the identity that belonged to him. The problem was knowing why he was refusing to. Fa Shen sighed heavily, sensing that he knew what was discouraging him, what he was afraid of. He had taken keen note of it, listening to Onna-Fa Shen describe her ordeal. It was simple to test. He stood, grabbing the kettle from the fire and approaching Ryouga. Restoring the lost boy to his native form, Fa Shen looked down into his face, as Ryouga stared up indignantly, wiping fluid out of his eyes. 

            "You could have warned me, you know! Hell, if you want to deal with my guy side, you could just ASK! I hate it when people push a change on me!"

            Fa Shen shrugged, setting down the kettle, "You did it to Ranma all the time. Now, stand up. Please."

            Ryouga ground his teeth, but nodded, "Only because you asked." He stood up, confronting the face and form of his rival, wondering aloud, "Now, what's the idea? What do you need me to be a guy for?"

            "For the same thing she did," Fa Shen gestured to his girl counterpart. Looking into Ryouga's eyes almost fearfully, he elaborated, "I need to know how I will react to you. It's one thing to say I am Fa Shen, I think it's a little different to really BE Fa Shen." While he was saying this, he was observing himself closely. There was a strong attraction. The physical response from past intimacy, and the reaction of her feminine psyche to Ryouga's masculinity. That fit his notion of being Fa Shen. He did not want to act on it, particularly. It was not hard to keep a grip on himself. But, there. Something was stirring inside, something that was reaching out to the boy in front of him hungrily. Closing his eyes, he focused on that part. 

            After a moment, he decided that part of him was in conflict with itself. In fact—his eyes sprung open as he stared at Ranko—it seemed that he was in two minds about Ryouga, deep beneath the surface. On one hand, there was an overwhelming love, laced with passion and vulnerability, that turned violently, fearfully away from acting on it. On the other hand, was a hope, a longing, a loneliness straining to make contact with the boy, muted by self doubt and uncertainty. The second was much closer to the surface, much closer to what Fa Shen would recognize as his own personality. That was Ranko. The first had to be Ranma, and when he turned to summon that part for further study, it dove even deeper, out of reach. 

            With a stifled moan of understanding, he stepped away from Ryouga. Ryouga was the reason he refused to accept. Man-among-men, manipulations of the mind, and Ranko's heart all taken aside, Ranma wanted Ryouga, and despised himself for it. From the way Onna-Fa Shen was looking at him, he knew she knew it. He knew when she was telling her story, that she was trying to warn him of it. She had already felt it. "Damn."

            "What is it? What's going on?" Ranko popped up and grabbed him. 

            Fa Shen looked down, avoiding her eyes. 

            "Tell me!" Ranko demanded. 

            "He's jealous of you," Fa Shen breathed. 

            Ranko stiffened. "What do you mean?" she demanded. 

            "Ranma…" he began, swallowed and trailed off. Shaking himself, he tried again, "I want to be Ranko. I can't be Ranma because Ranma wants to be you. Because Ranma wants to be with Ryouga." He had to catch his balance as Ranko shoved him back in her haste to distance herself from him. 

            "No," she breathed. Louder, "I took it back. It was me! It should have been me, you- you- How can you be saying this?"

            He dropped his chin entirely to his chest, staring straight down at his feet. The ground under him seemed so solid compared to the wild shifting that had started to undermine his thoughts at the confession. As his mind settled in the position his heart demanded, flesh flowed and shifted just as fluidly to accommodate the person who needed to express herself. "It was me," she breathed, bringing her eyes level with the original Ranko. With a shuddered breath and a flutter of eyelids, tears spilled down from each eye, "Ohgod. This is even worse than I feared. I am Ranko."

            Ranko, the girl who had staked her claim to that identity, and stuck it out through all the changes that followed, gasped. "I thought you were Fa Shen," she accused weakly. 

            "I made the same mistake. It was the only place to hide from the truth," she mumbled, tightening her eyes to stem the flow of misery. Choking past an aborted sob, she reached out for her other, innocent self, "At first, when the memories of him flooded back, I tried to hide as Ranma. But I still loved Ryouga. I still wanted him. Then you added to it, taking the choice I had made and making it for yourself, forcing me to go back to who I was, before… before the curse. I mean, someone had to be Ranma. Our honor depended on it, and the choice had been made for me. But it was so hard to be Ranma when I needed to be Ranko. I…" 

            Ryouga glanced over at Fa Shen, the remaining Fa Shen, and saw the pain of comprehension in her eyes. 

            The crying Ranko regained her voice, "This is so stupid. I don't have to explain this. You feel this just as much as I do! We aren't different people. We're- I am just in different places. It's easier to be Fa Shen, in some ways, because of where we are, because all this confusion is nothing compared to knowing everyone I know and love died a long time ago. But it's hard too, since being Fa Shen means holding onto the past, standing alone, walking away from everything in the hopes of finding someplace new to start over. It's that or become you. Become Ranko. It's the only way I can be honest about who I really am. Once Fa Shen. Once Ranma. Both and neither. 

            "But, DAMMIT!" she shouted. "No, there had to be THREE of me instead. There had to be all these people who want me to be Fa Shen. And everyone else wanting me to be Ranma, so they can marry me, defeat me, control me, make me into whatever they want!" This tirade rose in volume, and sent a cold arctic chill through the dry eyed Ranko. It finally hit her that she really was listening to herself. Her own confusion and frustration given a separate voice. 

            Ryouga was looking terrified. He had a vague inkling of the depths of this disturbance, a sense of triumph at the realization that his gut instincts had been right. The true compass of his heart sent spinning because his universe had three north poles, each of which was not sure where it wanted to establish itself. 

            "I once said, the only way I couldn't be Ranma was to not want what Ranma wanted," the crying girl sobbed. "But now I can't be Ranma. He wants to be you, and I can't be. I can't be me."

            Ranko watched her impassioned other fold in on herself, to huddle in a miserable knot in the dirt. The shock of each word had become like lightning bolts through her brain. Her private feeling, that she had evolved from the acceptance and understanding of her previous incarnations—that instead of turning her back on either past, she had embraced the best of what she was to become who she was—was proving itself before her eyes. It was not possible for her to go back to being Ranma or Fa Shen, because even if she forced herself back into either personality, instinct would lead her back to where she was now. This simple truth was torturing the part of her she had dumped all of Ranma's responsibilities on. 

            "No. NOnoNOnoNOnoNooOOOoo!" she cried out, dropping to gather her twin into her arms. "This isn't what I wanted! This isn't what I meant!" As she pulled the other girl close and began rocking her, her twin seized her, clinging on for dear life. Shortly, a third pair of arms encircled both of them, soothing them with soft, inarticulate syllables of comfort. 

            Even in her state of shock, Ranko—the one not crying—was aware that the girl she was holding was not the first to break down like this. Looking up, she met her other twin's eyes and asked desperately, "How did you make it through this?"

            Fa Shen, finding herself straining to cling to that identity, laughed bitterly while jabbing herself in the chest, "I ran straight through it and hid here. I threw myself back into being Fa Shen, but I don't know how long I can stay."

            Ranko shuddered. This was totally out of hand. The three of them, each taking different paths, were converging on the same spot and she was damned if she knew how they could get past each other without going to war over her identity. "Dammit! I wanted to avoid this!" 

            "You can't change who you are," Fa Shen sighed, hugging both girls in her arms. "You can't deny it, either."

            "But, what are we going to do?" Ranko begged, giving Ryouga a fleeting glance. In her heart, she knew she would share him with her other selves, if it came down to it, but knowing also that other relationships and obligations would make that solution unattainable. 

            Fa Shen did not have to guess what the glance meant. She had avoided looking at the lost boy as much as possible to keep from sliding back into what she had escaped. "I had hoped h- she could go back to being Ranma. Given enough time, we can become independent. If we stop melding, if we let our lives take different paths—"

            "But we have to want different things, or we'll all be chasing after the same dreams," Ranko cut in to finish the thought. How ironic that this mess was started by an attempt to keep three "Ranmas" from all chasing after Akane. Hell, it had been hard enough to allow Copy-Ranko to go on that date with Ryouga. Ranko had wanted him just as badly after that last trip to the mirror. Biting her lip, she asked herself if she could make the same decision she had then. In order to help an all girl Ranma become Ranko, she had given up her hopes of being with Ryouga. Could she do it again, to help a Ranko go back to being Ranma? She already knew it was the part of her that was Ranma that was so desperately in love with him. 

            Fa Shen read her mind, "You wouldn't…"

            "What else can I do? I took him from Ranma, and I wasn't playing fair. Ranma can't go back, but he can go forward if I get out of his way," she almost sobbed, fighting to keep from diving into an emotional abyss. Gritting her teeth and steeling herself, she stood up and thrust the girl in her arms at Ryouga. "Take her. Go!"

            Ryouga awkwardly shifted the weight of Ranko's twin, almost dropping her when she jerked around to stare at Ranko. 

            "What are you doing!?" she demanded. 

            "Don't ask questions!" Ranko shouted. "He's yours, Ranma! I-" she broke off and looked down. "I am so sorry. I never meant for this- Would you please just GO!?" she began to shake, whipping around to avert her eyes. 

            "Ranko…"

            "We CAN'T be the same person, Ranma. The only way I can keep you is to let go of him. Don't make this any harder than it is. You win," Ranko lost it then, her throat closing as the flood gates opened. In a flash, she bolted from the clearing, swallowed by the darkness of the woods. 

            "Get her home, Ryouga. I'll take care of Ranko," Fa Shen shoved the couple in the other direction forcefully. In the morning, they three of them might be able to face each other and discuss this, but right now she was the only one who could talk to Ranko. After all, she had made the same sacrifice, and maybe she could learn from her twin what her next step was.   
            As Fa Shen slipped into the darkness, Ryouga looked into the eyes of the girl in his arms in utter confusion. "Ranma?" he asked, almost pleading. She nodded hesitantly, as if still testing the idea in her mind. Ryouga took a deep breath, "Can you tell me what the hell all of that was about?"

            Ranma wriggled in his arms, pressing against his chest, "Put me down." Once she was standing on her own feet, she took a few calming breaths, scrubbed her face to obliterate the tracks of tears, and replied, "I'm still pretty confused myself. I'm me again, but for a while there I was Fa Shen, then Ranko. That's pretty scary."

            Ryouga nodded enthusiastically in endorsement. 

            Ranma tentatively leaned into his chest, letting the mental and emotional outcome come to rest within her. After a moment, she said, "What just happened… I think we—is it 'we' or is it 'me'? Whatever—we've been lying to ourselves, Ryouga, and it just caught up to us." 

            Ryouga frowned. "I think I got that part. You really are all the same person, I guess, but that's not what I meant." Suddenly he burst out laughing, "I mean, I've heard of throwing yourself at someone, but I never pictured it happening like that!" The gentle way he slipped his arms around Ranma, sheltering her, while at the same time getting into position to keep her from slipping away, sent a thrill through her. 

            "What are you really asking, Ryouga?" she asked, knowing what the responding question would be. 

            Ryouga frowned. "Why am I the reason you did not want to be Ranma?"

            Ranma laughed, "Come on, P-chan. You're not that dense. 'Cuz of you, I'm a living contradiction. I mean, really! There I am, the Man-Among-Men; the guy who chased me halfway around the world to kill me makes a real woman outta me, and I fall in love with him for it. Even when Ranko took everything else away, I knew I had to be a girl and I had you to thank for it."

            Ryouga coughed and stammered for a moment. "Y- you- you're staying a girl?" he asked rather meekly. 

            "I wouldn't be me otherwise," Ranma replied, offhand. Then with a second's thought, "Oh, I'll still be a guy too. Ranko an' me are exactly the same that way. I just ain't gonna act like there's somethin' wrong with me bein' a girl."

            "Oh."

            Ranma turned to look up at him at that. "What'sa matter, Ryouga? You worried about me makin' a woman outta YOU?" she teased. When Ryouga gulped, she laughed. "Well, I seem to remember you makin' an offer along those lines…"

            Ryouga seriously began to fidgit. "Er. Ah. Aren't you, ah, worried about, erm, you know. That marriage thing?" he tried to dodge the issue. 

            Ranma shrugged. "An amazon marriage ain't like a real marriage, Ryouga. If it takes me off the market here, I say we go for it. Won't count otherwise unless we make it official back home, you know, with a ceremony an' all." There was a long silence in which Ranma stood in awe of the sudden freedom Ranko had given her. The weight of the world had been taken off her shoulders, somehow. She HAD grown. All the pretending to be her old self aside, she had truly metamorphosed into the person she wanted to be. The wide grin faltered a bit, as she realized Ryouga had a lot further to go to catch up. Turning back to look at him seriously, "Hey, I was just jokin' Ryouga. You don't gotta be a girl for me. You didn't push me, an' I promise you I won't push you. I didn't choose this 'cuz I thought your curse gave me an out."

            Ryouga gaped once more, fighting the sensation of his heart flipping over and over in joy, determined to find out now if there was a catch, another disappointing flaw in their relationship. "What about Akane… or your mother, Ranma?" he cringed as he summoned the most frightening specters known to loom over Ranma's head. 

            Ranma stiffened, fists balling as she almost pulled away from him. Scowling at the ground, she barked out, "No. Once- ONCE Akane would have won hands down, but after that night she was a consolation prize. Bait to lure me back to my old life. But ask yourself, Ryouga, if she offered herself now, would you let go of me to have her?" It was a difficult question to ask, since Ranma had fears about just that. 

            Ryouga stared into her face, letting the wonder and dread of his love for the person in front of him roar through him. With a deep sigh, he repeated his original conclusion, "I'll always love her, Ranma, but I know she'll never love me back. You can't say the same though."

            Ranma looked away guiltily. "Okay, maybe it's not the same. Maybe she'll keep fighting you for me, but all the rest, the engagements, the promise my mom made to her dad… All of that doesn't matter now. Ranko, and probably even Fa Shen, they're going to help carry the weight of all that. My mom's problem is easy enough, if I marry you. I just have to have a kid and raise him to be a real man—a- a gentleman. I think you an' I can manage that a lot better than my old man, huh?"

            Ryouga stared at her, boggling. "You're really serious about this!"

            "Of course I am!" Ranma shouted. "You think I'd watch Ranko rip her heart out for me an' NOT do my best to make you happy!?"

            "To make… ME happy?" Ryouga reeled back. 

            "What? You mean you didn't get it?" Ranma stared at him, in faint disbelief, "Man. I KNOW you're not this dumb! This was as much about you as it was about me!" Ranma huffed in sudden unhappiness. 

            She dropped to the ground, legs akimbo, and willed her eyes to stay dry. "That night, when we came home, she pulled the rug out from under both of us. There was never a real big difference between me and Copy-Ranko. That whole thing about me wakin' up, thinkin' nothing after the curse had really happened to me, it was true an' it wasn't true. Fa Shen figured it out before they 'woke' me up. I became Ranko when I got that curse. At the time, the difference between bein' Ranko and bein' me was turnin' into a girl. An experience like that can change everything about the way you look at your self. The only way I could go back to bein' Ranma was to change back to how I was just before the curse happened. To see everything like that again. 

            "Of course, that woulda only worked if I'd been the one to wake up in the male copy," Ranma laughed humorlessly, folding her arms protectively over her heart. "I was SO not ready for being a girl. I didn't even understand what you were doin' to me, Ryouga." She grinned fondly up at him, "But, I certainly liked it, and I remembered that I liked you. It felt really weird, and you were acting so strange. Not that bad. I'd never had anyone be that gentle, that sweet to me. Went completely over my head, but again, I really liked it. It was fun watching your reactions. 

            "It got a little scarier when I began to pick up the memories left over from Ranko," she shivered. In her memory, she remembered how hard she had fought the realization of what she'd done, how it had come about. "Once I got an idea of what we'd done, I had to cling to those memories to keep from completely losin' it. Told myself it was natural an' all for a girl who used to be a guy to maybe snap the first time they let it all go, and tried real hard to adjust to bein' Ranko.

            "If she hadn't taken that away from me, you and I would have been together all this time," Ranma concluded. Taking a ragged breath, she shrugged, "Unless there was some way for us to all fuse together, one body, one mind, there was no way Ranko could hold onto what she took from me. Not that she really did anything wrong. It was all so confusing, and we were so much alike deep down, she couldn't help but see my feelings as hers."

            Ryouga knelt down in front of her, facing her, "Do you know why she- she gave up on me? Gave me to you?"

            "I'm not entirely sure. I know that if she hadn't I would not have been able to hold it together. I couldn't be Ranko, refused to be Ranma and I'd lost my grip on bein' Fa Shen." Ranma pulled her knees in to her chest and hugged them. The disorienting chaos of those final moments was still too close to the present for her to be comfortable talking about them. "Sometimes when you lose, you win," she muttered, remembering someone saying something like that during the mirror crisis. "I was losing it pretty bad, I guess." 

            Ryouga nodded, timidly, still very concerned that things were not entirely stable  in her. 

            Ranma realized she was staring off into space and brought her focus in on Ryouga. With a sudden thrill of vulnerability, she swallowed. "Ryouga?" she waited until he met her eyes. Her fingers suddenly fumbling helplessly with the ties to her shirt, she asked, "Wi- will you make love to me?"

            Ranma was forced to launch herself sideways through the air to avoid a fountain of blood from her paramour. 

Ukyo found herself on the edge of the village, with little idea of how she had gotten there. From the moment she had laid eyes on Akane's male form, something inside her had snapped. Only by sheer force of will had she managed to sit there and listen to the story of how it had happened. As the old woman—Po Shen's words penetrated, suggesting that Akane had granted herself a version of the curse Ukyo was pining to inflict upon herself, Ukyo had finally lost it. The promise she had made to Ranma and Ranko surged up to choke her, reminding her that she was forbidden to do what Akane, damn her blackened soul, was getting away with. It was beyond unfair. Whatever Ranko and company said, she had no doubts that they secretly desired a mate who could truly compliment them. Ryouga's curse had all but guaranteed Ranko would choose him, and the same would be true for Akane and Ranma. 

            True, if what Cologne had said, there was one last chance in Fa Shen. The ancient amazon made it sound as if it was only a matter of time before all three of them turned into versions of Ranko. Ukyo had raced out of the house, intent on stealing the cask of nanniichuan and dousing herself on the spot, then tracking Fa Shen down and defeating her before her personality shifted enough to have the same absurd objections Ranko and Ranma had made. They would be married and time would turn her into the man Ukyo ached for. 

            But the fallacies of this fantasy hit her before she could break into the stone vault. What were her chances, really, of defeating Fa Shen in combat? Maybe if she joined Mousse in training with those Musk idiots, and Fa Shen was hit with the weakness moxibustion, Ukyo could pull it off. Then, there was the little fact that she could never expect Fa Shen to be more than half a man at best. Ranko had managed to make at least that much clear about her current personality. It was patently stupid to expect Fa Shen to swing as far over as the prototype stud himself, Ranma. 

            With a scream of rage and frustration, she had fled from her prize, listing the competition she faced, with men like Herb vying for the same bride. Compared to the likes of him, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryouga and possibly one of the triplets themselves, she was barely in the same league. In spite of her insane devotion to avenging her honor on Ranma, she had long learned that the needs of supporting herself had taken the vital edge off her training, left her just that unforgivable smidgen less talented a martial artist than the others. 

            It was worth crying over, but there was the one consolation. She WAS better than Akane. At least, she could out fight her strongest rival. If Akane really got a handle on chi attacks, following her disastrous breakthrough, that might not hold true. Still, there was a faint hope of staying in the running, and if she kept her wits around her, she knew that amazon marriage laws were not the best way to claim one of the red-heads. 

            This calming realization had freed her mind in time to notice she was about to leave the village, and put her in a state to consider her options. "I need to do what Akane did. I only need instant nanniichuan," she patted her clothing down and produced a packet with an evil grin. "Check. Then, I need a chi attack. I can put out as strong an aura as that witch any day! Right now, I could pull off a shishihokodan easily enough!" As she brought up her aura, she noticed with a sick kind of fascination that it was a blue tinged chartreuse, that blended into a fine, glowing teal as her emotions became more focused.

            "What do you know, it is an aura of defiance," she mused. 

            Closing her eyes, she revisited the memory of many battles and reconstructed the technique used by Ranma and Ryouga to channel their chi into devastating attacks. Her own school of martial arts taught more subtle chi manipulations, and those skills were more than sufficient for a raw display such as that. It was far less complicated than channeling chi through her weapons, or using it to enhance her physical capabilities. Then the aura flickered out. "But, can I really convince anyone it's an accident, when everyone saw me there listening to Akane's story?" she asked herself anxiously. "Damn!"

            She considered returning to the manor to rethink her plan when two forms burst out of the darkness, racing towards the village. Ukyo had her mega-spatula out in her hands, dropping into a guard position, when the shapes resolved into twin Saotome girls. 

            Ranko seemed to notice her and dropped to a halt in front of her. With characteristic friendly concern, she asked, "Ukyo? Are you alright? What are you doing out here?"

            Ukyo waited until the other girl came to a stop next to Ranko, "Hey, Ran-chan. Fa Shen. I, uh, guess I was looking for you. Where's Ranma?" Ukyo raised an eyebrow as Ranko twitched at her brother's name and Fa Shen reached out a comforting hand. Ukyo noticed there were tear tracks on Ranko's face and filed the observation away, "Er, I suppose you know the cat's outta the bag?" She received the expected cringes at the metaphor and then their nods. "Right. I don't think anyone's mad at you. Cologne said something about how dangerous the power you've got could be, and implied it was best you were practicing with it. But that's not the real problem right now," she prepared to drop the bomb on them, rushing to cut off their questions about the sex thing. "Akane's turned herself into a boy. Like Ryouga's pig curse."

            The two girls reared back in shock, "Whaaaaat!?"

            Ukyo nodded sadly, "Yup. She got so worked up about being betrayed by all of you she went and threw off some kind of defiance chi blast. Big one. Like Ryouga's perfect shishihokodan, and she nailed herself with it."

            Ranko made a strangled sound of misery and rage. 

            Before Fa Shen could stop her, Ranko was streaking off through the village. Fa Shen paused to glare at Ukyo, "Don't you think there might have been a better way to tell us about this! She's torn herself up enough for one night!" With a snarl, Fa Shen was gone, and Ukyo was left to trudge back to the manor alone. After a few steps, she glanced back over her shoulder, "Weird. They didn't say where Ranma was."

            A few moments later, she realized who else was pointedly absent.

            "Ryouga…" she breathed, then remembered the signs of Ranko's initial distress, some of which she had masked as she reached Ukyo, and Fa Shen's comment clicked together. It was not a great leap from there to guess what Ranko would be so "torn up" about. With wide eyes, she whipped around to stare off into the forest, "No! They wouldn't have!"

            But the suspicion would not leave. Her fist tightening around her spatula, Ukyo raced out of the village, eyes peeled for any sign of the trail Ranko had left in her passage. If Ranma and Ryouga were up to no good, she, Ukyo, was going to catch them at it. She promised herself, if so, there would be hell to pay!


	8. Part Eight

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Eight

The Matron of Mysteries, Po Shen, had returned to the Matriarch's Manor bearing a satchel nearly as large as she was. That was not really surprising, since the old woman had to be at least as old as Cologne, and equally shrunken. Settling down at the table, she had asked for a carafe of water and produced what could only be an Instant Curse packet and a bag of what appeared to be very coarse salt. It was the salt that tipped Akane off. He remembered visiting Dr. Tofu with Ranma, the morning Cologne took him and the copies back to Mirror Mansion, and hearing the doctor say something about a potential cure using salted Twins water. It had something to do with altering the effects of the Chuanshontsuniichuan so that it split a person into cursed and uncursed forms, instead of creating twins with the same curse. The explanation the old woman gave, as she poured the packet and a cup of salt into the carafe—stirring the water with a long, slender stick—confirmed Akane's suspicion. 

            "Now, obviously, there are some risks and uncertainties," Po Shen paused to regard Akane sternly. "This is a proven method of unmasking a locked curse victim, and has successfully divided those who have mastered a curse. However, with mastery of a curse comes the possibility of multiple curses. Unsalted, this mixture would only create a double, but tainted with salt, it will split off every body an individual might possess. This is why I did not attempt to try this on your friend with the poor sense of direction."

            "Are you saying that it would hurt him to be split into boy, girl and pig forms all at the same time?" Akane chewed his lip nervously. 

            "Honestly, the total mass involved is not significantly altered, with the piglet form thrown in. Should, say, a certain rogue known in these parts as Pantsuto Taro—" Po Shen quirked an eyebrow as she was cut off. 

            "Pantyhose!" Akane blurted in shocked comprehension. "He'd split up into a yeti, a bull, a crane, an eel, an octopus and a boy!"

            "I see you have met him," Po Shen chuckled dryly. Clearing her throat, she elaborated, "You see the first problem. Obviously, a Jusenkyo curse seemingly defies the physical law of conservation of mass and energy. A scientist unfortunate enough to witness a transformation would suffer apoplexy over it, lacking an understanding of ki and the effects it can have on things like matter, energy, space and time. If you take the mechanics of ki into account, the conservation of mass-energy is preserved. With ki, it is possible to convert mass to energy, and then store it in an isolated pocket of space-time until needed." Po Shen noticed Akane and Nodoka gawking at her use of such modern terms, and chuckled. "In ancient times, we spoke of such things as patterns of substance and essence, and magic was simply the knowledge of how to manipulate the patterns of it all."

            Po Shen waved that off. "In a normal transformation from one form to another, the expenditure of ki is virtually unnoticeable. It too tends to be conserved in the transformation, so the greatest drain is at the time one is initially cursed. This, however," she tapped the carafe, "would break up a gestalt form like Taro's, manifesting all the component aspects."

            The elder paused for a moment, sharing a look with Cologne. 

            Cologne nodded. "We are aware that curse twins each end up with as much ki as the original victim."

            "It has always seemed interesting to me how Jusenkyo curses tap into a source of raw ki, but past experience has revealed that there are limits to this particular miracle," Po Shen resumed. "As I said, the acquisition of a curse places a great demand on a victim's ki, the ki needed to destroy one form and create another. The ki demanded by a curse is taken from the limited amount possessed by the victim prior to the transformation. Somewhere during transformation a channel is opened to replenish what the curse appropriates. However, in the midst of transformation, the only thing sustaining the person between the destruction of one form and the creation of another is whatever ki remains after the curse claims its share.

            "The twins curse takes a much bigger bite out of a victim, and the smaller reserve of sustaining ki has the additional task of replicating her psyche in preparation to assume control of the two bodies. Obviously, each body that is added to this equation diminishes the reserve and adds to the work it must do to supply each form with a mind," Po Shen's tone left no doubts as to the seriousness of that situation.

            "Unfortunately, that is not the full extent of the problem," she grinned evilly. "There is also the physical shock of division. Splitting and merging is a traumatic process, and the shock increases geometrically for each additional separation. Since everything happens at once, the shock is experienced by all parts, and in Taro's case the shock would definitely kill him after the fact, even if the depletion of ki during the split did not," she concluded. 

            "The Musk used this to wipe out the original Shokei Adepts," Cologne contributed grimly, gesturing to the carafe of tainted water. 

            Po Shen nodded. "That is the ultimate danger of mixing curses, whether they are blended or mastered separately. Only someone with a limitless supply of ki and ridiculous tolerance for pain could survive such an attack. But, that's not a danger here," Po Shen clucked and returned to instructing Akane. "There was no reason to inflict twice as much pain on your friend just to test whether or not a ki triggered curse would be revealed by this method. In your case, there is only the usual pain, and it serves the useful purpose of confirming that you can regain your normal form."

            Akane nodded stiffly. His body had grown increasingly tense as what he was about to do sank deeper into his consciousness. If this worked, he was about to confront his- herself in an all too literal fashion. With an odd pang, he realized that it would be yet another impossible experience he would have in common with his fiancé. "Under the circumstances, you'd think I'd be getting better at understanding hi- them," he muttered to himself plaintively. 

            "Well, the water is ready, Child. I'd advise you to change out of your clothes before we proceed. You will suffer enough without having to tear your way out of them when you split," Po Shen advised. "Just wrap a sheet around yourself. Or two, if you don't want to share it afterwards."

            Akane blushed furiously, understanding the point of that warning. Given his normal temperament, it would not be good for his health to be male, naked and alone with his female self under a sheet. Reflexes alone would guarantee much violent pounding. Akane squeaked and shuddered as an unholy part of his mind presented a different interpretation of those words. "Good idea," he hopped up, as if fleeing from his own shadow. "I'll be right back."

            "I believe we won't need an audience for this, Sisters," Cologne addressed the assembled elders. With dignity, they nodded and excused themselves, except for Po Shen. Nodoka followed the elders to the door, while Cologne ushered Mousse and Shampoo off to their rooms. 

            At the door, after the last of the elders had been sent off with the proper salutations, Nodoka was almost bowled over by one of her "sons" charging into the manor in something akin to a blind panic. "Ranma?" she called out, as he dodged around her at the last second. 

            The boy stopped suddenly, looking as though he's been stabbed, and glanced down at himself. A faint bloom of steam rose from his damp clothes, and he groaned. He could not believe he forgot to lock his curse, even with the reminder Ranma had given him earlier. Shaking his head, he met his mother's eye for a blushing second, "Er, sorry. It's me, Ranko. Someone musta thrown out their wash water when I was running by. Why don't I ever notice this stuff?" he asked himself, turning and wandering toward the kitchen for cold water. As desperate as he was to see Akane, and find out what had happened, it still was a bad idea to show up in male form. The distraction gave him a moment to wrestle with his thoughts and emotions. Absorbed in the effort to sort them into some order that would not spill out of his mouth in the worst way the moment he confronted Akane, he did not notice the carafe of water sitting on the table, or the diminutive elder sitting across the table from him, until he had almost walked by. 

            The action was so automatic, and his preoccupation so great, he had snatched the carafe and tipped it over his head in one fluid motion, before Po Shen could even think of giving warning. 

            "Goddess!!! No! Don't—!" the woman cried, leaping up at Ranko. 

            It was too late, water spilled over the lip as Ranko jerked in shock, whipping around to look at the elder. The old woman rocketed past, snatching the carafe out of his hand, but half it's contents were already coursing down his face, through his hair and splashing against his shoulders. The tingle of transformation set in, and then pain exploded through the emerging girl's body. She screamed in agony as the feeling of something cleaving her body in two started at the crown of her head, shot down the length of her spine and then exploded outwards to the tips of her fingers and toes. 

            Po Shen landed across from where she had been seated, carefully swinging the carafe through a braking arc, to keep the remaining contents from splashing wildly. Turning around, she watched the girl lurch toward her, curling up over her stomach, falling face forward to the hard wood floor. As she fell forward, the male form she had displaced reared backward, tearing his way out through the back of his shirt. The pants that had begun to slip down her hips, strained at the sudden presence of two pairs of legs, and the outside seams split with a shriek of tortured fabric. The girl's terrible scream was now echoing from the boy's throat, fading into silence as the two bodies shuddered and slumped unconscious to the ground coming to rest spooning together like lovers. 

            In that instant, three people crashed together in the door way.

            "Ranko—!" Nodoka was shouting in alarm.

            "What the hell was THAT—!?" Akane was yelling in terror. 

            "That was much too quick—" Cologne complained, already well aware what the screaming entailed, if not correct about who was being ripped in two. Of course finding herself squashed between Nodoka and a sheet clad male Akane, it struck her instantly that things were not as expected. Bounding into the room in Nodoka's wake, as the distraught mother homed in on her distressed child, Cologne spotted Po Shen cautiously setting the carafe back on the table and studying the red-headed boy and girl on the floor. While Nodoka sprawled beside them, Cologne came to rest beside Po Shen with a severe look on her face. 

            "Ranko?" Akane gasped, fitting the words and images assaulting his brain together, and creeping last into the room. 

            "Po Shen! Explain this!" Cologne demanded. 

            "I can hardly believe it, Cologne, much less explain it," the other elder confessed, still gaping in shock. "He- she stormed through the room heading for the kitchen… Wasn't even looking at me or the water. Quick as you please, she snatched the water and poured it on herself. It was totally unexpected. There was no time to stop her, let alone warn her. It's fortunate she's only got the one other form!"

            "True enough," Cologne nodded, sighing heavily, "However, she's already been split by the Mirror of Broken Souls twice. There has to be a limit to how many times a single person can be divvied up!"

            Po Shen remained wide eyed. Shaking her head, she observed, "She did take it rather hard." She joined Cologne in taking a closer look at the split Ranko, examining the physical and spiritual condition of each, while Nodoka fussed over them, ordering Akane to fetch them robes or something, as the single set of shredded clothing did little to protect their modesty. Reaching a quick conclusion, Po Shen sighed, "We cannot assess any mental trauma until they're awake. Physically, I doubt I've seen anyone healthier, and they appear to have a normal amount of ki. Which is to be expected."

            "No, they each ended up with about half of Ranko's normal ki," Cologne corrected, privately intrigued. She had seem something similar in the way her ki was split between her reflections the night of their double date, and seemed to confirm her suspicions about why Ranko, and of late her twins, possessed a double measure of ki. It clearly had something to do with the nature of their curses. "This just dropped them back to normal standards. By my estimate, they are going to be out for a while. We should put them in their room to sleep it off." At that point, as Akane was turning to fetch something to cover the half naked red-heads, Fa Shen sprinted into the house and screeched to a halt on the threshold of the dining room. 

            "Ranko! I'm gonna STRANGLE you… for…" Fa Shen took in the scene. "What's going on here? How did Ranma get here so fast? And who tore the hell outta them?" she demanded, giving Akane the evil eye. 

            "Fa Shen?" Akane flinched, startled by the glare. 

            "Damn it, Akane! You've got to stop doing this to them! Why can't you just—" but Fa Shen was cut off. 

            "I didn't do this! Ranko did it to herself!"

            Fa Shen choked back her rant, and blinked in confusion. "I don't—"

            "They are both Ranko," Cologne tried to inform helpfully. 

            "Oh! Not again! We just went through this!" Fa Shen shouted, stomping over and grabbing the male version of her twin and shaking him. "Wake up you idiot! She gave you Ryouga! What the hell do you have left to fight over!?" To her self, she wondered at the torn clothing in deep concern. There was not enough material left to piece together a single outfit!

            Sudden tense silence surrounded Fa Shen. 

            "Ranko! Wake up and tell me what this is about!" Fa Shen reached over and roughly nudged her. Then she noticed the silent stares. "What?"

            "Do you…" Nodoka swallowed and composed herself, pointing at Ranko's male side, "Do you think that is Ranma?" 

            Fa Shen sighed and ran her hands through her hair, "Um. This is really complicated." Struggling to think of a simple way to explain what had happened since that afternoon, she frowned mightily. "We're not all as different as we seem," she began, unhappily. "Some things have happened tonight that have shown us that we… All three of us are exactly alike, but we've been acting differently, trying to be different parts of our self." Fa Shen bit her lip, remembering that their secret was out, and Nodoka and Cologne heard all the details. 

            Taking a deep breath, Fa Shen started over. "Ranma, the- the one we've been calling Ranma," she started hesitantly, before diving headlong into it, "she isn't really Ranma, anymore than I am. I can be Ranma just as well, just as completely. I was Ranma for most of today. Since Akane caught me and…" That might not have been the best thing to bring up. She hurried past it. "I figured it out first, when I went off sparring with Ryouga. We got in an argument and he accused me of destroying 'his' Ranko, the one from his date. 

            "This is really confusing," she warned. "When we healed Ra… When two of us had sex, it broke down the walls between all three of us. When that happens, all our memories pool, and we would switch to the personality of the memories we had gotten, so it seemed like we were trading places. So, I remembered and felt everything that had happened with Ryouga and Ranko-turned-Ranma, but all of that really happened with just one of us," Fa Shen gestured helplessly to the unconscious boy. Frowning, "Why do YOU find it strange that I think this is Ranma?"

            "Because we meant just what we said. These two ARE both Ranko. The one we've been calling Ranko for the past week," Cologne clarified, following the example Fa Shen had set. "I see we're going to have to work out a new way to distinguish you three, if you all plan to keep changing personalities. But, later. What happened here is that Ranko came in and splashed herself with salted instant twins water we had prepared to discover if Akane's natural form is recoverable." 

            "You said, 'She gave you Ryouga'," Akane butted in. He had been growing more and more tense as Fa Shen struggled to explain herself, his mind focused in on those words, out of everything she had said, and the fact that she clearly thought she had been saying them to Ranma. 

            Fa Shen wanted to simply evaporate into thin air. Turning to look Akane in the eye, startled once again by the masculine appearance and the reaction it aroused in her, she shuddered. "I love Ryouga," she stated very carefully. That much was true, even if she—like Ranko—realized she could not act on it. "I love him more than I can possibly say. But. Only when I AM Ranma." That protest was thrown in too late to fight the tidal shift her speech set off. The last three words betrayed her. There was a flicker behind her eyes, and then she turned into a boy, transforming in character as well as in flesh. "I'm sorry, Akane," he bowed in exquisite misery.

            Everyone present gaped in shock, surprised by the sudden sex-change, and blown away by the palpable presence of Ranma, where a second before they had felt Fa Shen in command of the same body. 

Seeming oblivious to the reaction, "Ranma" continued. "I know we're supposed to be fiancés an' all, but that date, the things that happened before it… Everything I had done to keep from acceptin' my girl half fell apart," he cringed, suddenly becoming female again. In a more fragile voice, she picked up, "Ryouga made a woman outta me, got me to accept my girl half. Then I had to go back to bein' my old self. I didn't know how to do it. The way I was, I could only hate what I had done. I hated myself, but I had to be 'Ranma'. It was a matter of honor. The only way to do that was to bury my feelings, to pretend that it was really Ranko who loved Ryouga."  

            "Wasn't it?" Akane demanded, straining to contain himself. 

            "Well, in a way, it was," she admitted self-consciously, fidgeting nervously in place. "Ranko an' I, we'd both made the same decision, the same choices. The guy copy was supposed to go on as me, an' there was no way I was gonna go off to get a guy curse until the mirror mess was straightened out. I didn't even know if bein' a guy again was worth havin' to live with a curse again. We both had feelings for Ryouga, but since she had the curse, and could still be a man, I was the one who needed Ryouga more. I mean, if I was at all serious about seein' if I could go on full time as a girl…" Ranma paused for a while in thought. 

            "Ranko was the first to understand bein' a girl. I got to go a little further with it before I had to go back to bein' me. The thing is, Ranko wasn't on that date. Ranko didn't give herself to him. That was me. She can remember it, she can feel it all, but it was me who lived it," Ranma explained. Then she laughed abruptly. She had fallen so easily into the memories of Ryouga's Ranma that she had forgotten there was another Ranma inside her. Shaking her head to clear the confusion, she corrected herself sharply, "No. That's totally wrong. I was on a date with you that night, Akane."

            Akane blinked in confusion, then remembered. 

            "It's pretty confusing," she shrugged. "Like I was in two places at once, one set of memories overpowers the other. Damn, I'm gonna have to think about this a lot more." In the back of her mind she remembered Ranko explaining that copy-Ranko had been the side of her that came from Fa Shen, while copy-Ranma had been the side of her that came from Ranma. Combined with the truth behind the personality shifts, she suddenly glimpsed an entirely different explanation of the awakening of Ranma and Fa Shen. 

            "So, what happened to 'my' Ranma?" Akane asked timidly. 

            "Er, ah," she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. The question innocently landed right on the head of her uncertainty. "That's me, I guess. I mean, it works out the same way as with Ryouga's Ranma. But, I gotta say, when I am Fa Shen, I have a real hard time dealin' with, er, me. You know, bein' Ranma." There was a long pause, as Ranma stared inward. What if it was true? What if Ranko had been right? Did that mean the other Ranma was really a Fa Shen who was assimilating her reincarnation as Ranma? Did that mean she was the real Ranma—a Ranma who was choking on the memory of who he had been in an earlier life? She frowned, focusing in on something she had refused to admit to herself and sharing it aloud, "When I am Fa Shen, I am afraid somethin' will force me to be Ranma. That I'll throw away somethin' as important as Ryouga was to me—ah, the other me—because of my sense of honor." 

            Akane looked away, struggling to hide a stab of misery. 

            Ranma looked down at the split Ranko. "An' I know I will. I just watched myself do that tonight. Ranko giving Ryouga up to save Ranma."

            "Is- is that why you're usually Fa Shen? Is it YOUR sense of honor, Ranma, that forces you to be HER?" Akane asked, still not looking at him. 

            Ranma started, staring at him.

            "I'm sorry, that was a mean question," Akane waved it off. "But, can I just ask… I need to know, and- and I can't- I can't ask HIM." He turned to look into Ranma's eyes imploringly, "Is Ryouga the only person you can love?"

            There was a long pause, as Ranma continued staring at the youngest Tendo. The night of her date with Akane surging to the front of his mind. With a painful swallow, and with complete obliviousness to a sudden change back to male, he finally answered, "No. Ryouga's not the only person I love. I- I just- I don't know if things can- can work out, is all." 

            Akane had caught his breath at the sudden change, again, but was held even more transfixed by the look of terror underlying Ranma's steady gaze. With a nod, he stood up and stepped back. "Thanks. I- I know that wasn't easy for you. Um. Look, why don't you take these two upstairs?" he suggested, pointing them out, eager to change the subject. "I have to do this test, to see if I can ever be myself again…"

            Ranma blinked a few times, struggling with the inner turmoil stirred up by his admission, and then nodded. Gathering the girl Ranko up in his arms, he shifted her onto his shoulder and reached for the boy. "Can you wait? Until I come back down? I- I'd like to be here for- well… I'm sure this is gonna work, but maybe you'd like to talk about what happened today. I- I have a lot of explaining to do."

            Akane looked at him, standing with a Ranko thrown over each shoulder. With a nod, he smiled, "Take your time. It sounded like this is going to be really painful. I'm not in any real hurry to find out." Ranma returned the smile and exited. Nodoka softly excused herself, following the trio upstairs. 

Shampoo and Mousse exchanged confused looks as the sounds from the room below diminished. There was no doubt that it had been enlightening for them to slip into Cologne's study to eavesdrop through the vent. Instead of just finding out if Akane's womanhood could be restored, though, they had overheard the screams of Ranko suffering the peculiar, catastrophically bad luck of the Saotome's, and the even more bizarre evolution of the triplets' identity crisis. Of course it would be bad if their presence in the study was discovered, so they wordlessly slipped away to Shampoo's room before Ranma could arrive upstairs with the twinned Ranko. The door eased shut as he reached the head of the stairs, and they turned to look at each other again. 

            It was an awkward moment, haunted by the peculiar history the two shared. There was a time, long ago, when they could honestly say they had been friends. When they were young enough that they had been immune to the constraints of gender, it would not have been unusual for them to skulk about together on some adventure or to retreat to Shampoo's room in the wake of some mischief. That innocent camaraderie had evaporated all too soon, when Shampoo had begun to assert her natural dominance as a girl, and Mousse's childhood affection began to turn into infatuation. That said, it had been over a decade since Mousse had been in Shampoo's room alone with her, with the door shut. It was the first tangible proof that they had been significantly affected by their recent role reversal. 

            Backing away from the implications of that, Shampoo cleared her throat and announced, "Maybe now good time you explain what you doing, Mousse. No have time when you come back to ask, what you thinking? You go off with Musk boys like that! You know no good can come of mixing up with likes of them!"

            Mousse blushed faintly, turning to study the door. "That's not really the issue, Shampoo, and we both know it," he murmured, putting force into his words but speaking softly to minimize the offense. "Our 'marriage' changed too many things, Shampoo. Changing sexes, we both let go of a part of ourselves, our pride maybe, and at least I can't help but wonder if things were better that way."

            "We agree we no talk about that, Mousse," Shampoo retorted in a strained voice. 

            "I think we should. I think we have to," Mousse insisted, turning to stare at her. Or, as his glasses were perched on top of his head at the moment, to stare intently at the window across the room from her. "Because it has a lot to do with what we will both be forced to do."

            "Shampoo not know what Mousse talking about."

            "I'm talking about love, Shampoo. I'm talking about…" he shrugged helplessly, turning to track her voice until her eyes could meet his. "I know about love, Shampoo. The world can change, or you can become a different person completely, and your love remains true. If that is true for me, if that was enough to make me marry you that way, then it's safe to say you will never really give up on Ranko. So, neither can I."

            Shampoo bit her lip. It was not hard to guess what he was saying. "Is stupid, Mousse think he can have Shampoo by marrying same person as Shampoo. Shampoo not even sure, of three, which is one that can love Shampoo," she confessed, reprimandingly. 

            Mousse considered that. Nodding, he admitted, "It would be impossible for my plan to work without knowing which of them to challenge. The problem is, I have already issued a challenge." Technically, he should have fought Ranko already. "That is a fight I am not sure I want to win now, but at the same time I cannot afford to lose it. Not if there is a chance you're still interested in Ranko." Mousse sighed. It was funny in a way. The way he had suckered Shampoo into marriage, he had actually gained a small measure of respect from the woman he loved so desperately. "You make a good amazon woman," she had grudgingly confided in their marriage bed, in their birth tongue. The ordeal they had gone through together had opened their eyes a little to each other. 

            "Do you remember what we talked about that first night?" he suddenly asked. The sound of her sucking in a breath encouraged him. "My biggest fear about Saotome was always that you would break through his pride and arrogance, that he would stop denying his love for you and make you his."

            Shampoo hugged her arms to her, slipping into Mandarin, "You feared this because you hoped the same of me." Shampoo remembered her reaction to that. Her immediate reaction had been to declare that she had never loved Mousse, nor would she ever, but she had bit her tongue as she made the connection. Her pursuit of Ranma was painfully similar to Mousse's pursuit of her. Her lack of love for Mousse was sort of a death knell for her own hopes. She had dredged her soul in search of some shred of love for the blind boy, as a way to convince herself that she had a chance with Ranko, or Ranma—or even Fa Shen, for that matter. 

            There was a possibility there. There had always been buried affection, and his stupid, blind devotion had often touched a chord within her. She could hardly deny that when she remembered how mercilessly she had stomped those feelings into dust. She could now add, to her reasons for despising Mousse, the fact that he had given her a strong argument for respecting his feelings. She also had to wonder if her doomed relationship with Ranma- Ranko was some kind of instant karmic retribution for her treatment of Mousse. The doubts and fears—and desperation—had been enough to prompt her to consider the most ridiculous of plans. 

            "I think I get where you are going," Shampoo finally nodded. "You heard that Ranko gave up on Ryouga. That means I wouldn't be able to get to her through him, like we talked about…" Shampoo trailed off. It had been a fabulously stupid plan, and while she and Mousse pretended they were not really serious about it, neither of them had come up with a better one. A plan that respected the complicated web of affections they had forced themselves to address. Sighing, she confessed, "I had my doubts about a group marriage, anyway."

            "As long as I won't give up on you, and you won't give up on Saotome, do we really have a choice?"

            "Not to mention, one Saotome is literally no different from another," Shampoo pointed out, with a shudder. "Fa Shen became Ranma between one word and the next. It's scary." She was tempted to mention her attempt to seduce Fa Shen earlier. At the moment, she had no idea which of them she had really cornered in the shower. Closing her eyes, she tried to work it out. Based on what she had only just overheard, the one she had come on to was now together with Ryouga. Frowning, she considered the implications of that. "They're not being very coy about their feelings for Ryouga," she observed, her throat tightening painfully. 

            Mousse stiffened at the effect that had on her voice, and tilted his head forward to allow his glasses to drop to the bridge of his nose. Taking a good look at her, he decided she had finally figured it out. In an odd voice, he commented, "It's kind of funny what a relief it is when you are forced to see the truth. To know the one you love truly does not love you back."

            Shampoo's head snapped up. Staring at him, she could not think of anything to say for several moments. Finally, she simply asked, "What do you mean by that?"

            Mousse shrugged, "There's no need to play the fool once you stop fooling yourself. As your wife, it did not take me long to figure out that you did not love me. However imperfect the marriage was, our laws did not interfere with us for once. I was forced to accept that you had not been putting on an act for your great-grandmother, pretending to hate me so no one would be suspicious of our true feelings. No, our true feelings were plain enough for all to see." The words held all the bitter venom of towering humiliation. "I was the only one who refused to see the truth."

            Shampoo looked down at her feet. This explained why nothing she had done, as a man, had been enough to arouse the boy turned girl. In spite of knowing exactly what buttons to push, the realization that Shampoo felt little more than pity must have turned Mousse frigid with shame and humiliation. Ironically, if Mousse had been more responsive, the two of them would probably have been stuck with their adopted cursed forms. Not that either would really regret that, but it would have cemented their marriage. It was almost a shame. It would certainly have been simpler than throwing themselves back into the chaos surrounding Ranma. "If you had not been so blind from the beginning, chances are I would have loved you. It was your obsession that made things impossible between us," she criticized with an ounce of genuine regret. A regret she had kept to herself since puberty. 

            Mousse swallowed audibly. 

            Shampoo turned away from him to look out the window. There was something else struggling to make its way out of the depths of her mind. Something tickled forth by the scene she had overheard. Part of it was the notion that the triplets were truly identical, inside and out. "Ranko gave Ryouga to Ranma," she said aloud, probing at it like a sore tooth. Why did that bother her? If they were all the same, what difference did it make who got the one they loved? What could give one of them a better claim to him than the rest? 

            Shampoo punched herself in the head, "It's so obvious! Ranma was the one who slept with him!"

            "Huh?" Mousse blinked, tipping sideways to lean casually against the frame of the door, and missing it completely. Picking himself up, he grumbled, "I mean, we already know this. What is your point?"

            "Marriage law," Shampoo said grimly. "If what Fa Shen was saying tonight is true, there are no special exceptions for the triplets. It's the same as if they had a personality curse, or multiple personalities. Each of them is responsible for their individual actions. Being confused about who you are is no defense against the kiss of marriage! That means Ryouga is Ranma's husband!"

            Mousse stood unbalanced for a moment, seriously contemplating a face plant, but something told him he had not heard the worst of Shampoo's thoughts. In a weak voice, he begged softly, "Oh, please. Please don't tell me…"

            "Th- the same rules make me Fa Shen's wife," Shampoo finished. 

            "B- b- but HOW!?" Mousse exploded. 

            "It's simple," Shampoo explained in a shallow, breathless voice. "Because she's still Ranma. Another Ranma, but the one who consummated our marriage."

            "But, what about you turning her into a guy?"

            Shampoo tossed her head angrily, "Don't you see, if she's not JUST Fa Shen, if part of her really is Ranma, what I did isn't a crime. It might be ruthless or even cruel, but if she's even half a man at heart, I had the option of bringing the man out. Unless someone can prove I never intended to allow the girl side out again, or the way things happened, refused to let her get a nyanniichuan curse, I was well within my rights in pursuing my husband!" 

            Mousse closed his mouth with a snap. "Can this get any more complicated?" he demanded in irritated frustration. He could not argue with her, though. The elders would reach the same conclusion, and any ruffled feathers on the part of the bride and groom would be dismissed for the good of the tribe. The outcome was far more important after all. Taking a deep breath, he brought up the first question that came to mind, "What about Herb's challenge, then?"

            Shampoo shrugged, "What about it? With her curse, my husband is capable of being Herb's wife. If he defeats her." 

            Mousse laughed bitterly. "And I am the idiot who just helped assure his victory," he accused himself. At least it settled the question of what to do about his challenge to Ranko. Losing that fight would not diminish his chances with Shampoo. Stumbling toward a chair, he slumped into it. Briefly, he wondered if there was a way to shift Herb's interest over to Ranko, and challenge Fa Shen himself. No doubt, Shampoo could guess his thoughts, and he forced himself to wonder if there was any point. In what way would that plan make continuing to pursue his love any less hopeless? "Damn."

            Shampoo settled on her bed, studying the man who had been her wife. Seeing things in this new light did not fill her with the delight it would have two weeks ago. Instead, there was a crawling dread. A dread of lying in bed with Fa Shen, indifferent to his touch, because deep in her heart she knew he did not—maybe could not—truly love her. Her unexpected victory held the taste of ashes, and that was frightening. "Maybe it's best not to say anything about this. Maybe no one else will figure it out," she suggested timidly. 

            Mousse looked up at her, carefully adjusting his glasses to disguise his surprise. "You know that might not be wise. The council will be examining all of us, and if the truth comes out, they will not be pleased to hear you tried to hide this," he advised sternly. "Not that I blame you. I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Fa Shen about this, but it's not like you to back away from something like this."

            Shampoo folded her hands in her lap. "She would hate me."

            Mousse tried to follow her thoughts, and a moment later he bolted to his feet. The parallels between them were clear enough. If that was the conclusion she had reached, it left Mousse no doubts about her true feelings for him. But along with that stab of rejection came the seeds of a plan to sabotage the relationship between Shampoo and Fa Shen. In a tight but heated voice, he pointed out, "Being a husband would be beneath Fa Shen. No doubt she'd much prefer to be Herb's wife. With his curse, she'd have little need for a wife of her own, don't you think?"

            Shampoo jerked at the spiteful tone. Still, Mousse might have a point, she nodded to herself mutely. Mousse seemed to take her action for a reply, and silently stormed out of her room. Only after he was gone, did it occur to Shampoo that she might have just created more trouble for Fa Shen. Stalking out of her room, she growled, "Stupid Mousse! Fa Shen doesn't love HIM either!" But, Mousse had not lingered to catch any last remarks from her. Shampoo paused a moment in indecision, then decided it would be best to warn Fa Shen, about herself and about Mousse betraying her to Herb. 

Akane stared at herself in a torment of relief and uncertainty. She had been terribly afraid this experiment would prove the worst, but as she studied her hands she decided the pain of being split had been a small price to pay for the reassurance that somehow, some way, she would be able to return to normal. At least, she felt her present state offered some hope for her twin. She could not get the look he had given her, before storming out into the courtyard, out of her mind. She had a morbid need to know what her other self was experiencing at this moment, but she had taken Ranma's advice and remained where she was while he went after her twin. Pulling the sheet tighter around her, she looked out into the yard to see them still talking. Ranma had gone girl again, and seemed to be speaking very urgently to the male Akane. 

            "Even when they know it is only temporary, people suffer terribly at being cast off in their cursed form when confronted with the uncursed version," an ancient voice intruded softly.

            Akane turned to look at Po Shen. "I can almost tell you what she is thinking," she confided guiltily. "I don't know what it will take to find the trigger to this curse, but I could stay the way I am now and at least I would be normal. Part of me already came to terms with being stuck as a boy the last time. It wouldn't be easy for her, but… hell, I would stay a boy if that was the only way to guarantee…"

            Po Shen smiled gently, not at all surprised by the confusion that caused the girl's thoughts to break off. "I suppose anyone of good character would make such a sacrifice for the sake of those they loved. I am sure you are concerned about your family and friends, how they would take the loss of the girl they know and the appearance of a boy in her place. Of all curses, in a situation like this, yours does offer a chance of a normal life for both halves. Still, it is too great a sacrifice. It would be best to overcome this, than to try and avoid the risks."

            Akane bowed her head. "It's sort of strange. I mean, I watched Ranma go through this. I watched him become a different person, and watched two different people become him. I guess I feel like it's cheating somehow if this isn't as hard on me as it was on him."

            "It is a strange tale, that one. One with greater complications," Po Shen commented, nudging the girl to her feet and gesturing for her to follow. With a last look at Ranma and Otoko-Akane, she stood and re-entered the house. 

            In the courtyard, Ranma reached out to take Otoko-Akane's hand. "That's pretty stupid, Akane. You won't be stuck as a guy! Not if you just have faith in yourself and don't think stupid things like that!"

            "Is that supposed to be comforting, you jerk!?" he snapped. 

            "It's supposed to be the truth, dummy!" she huffed, wishing for the millionth time that she was better with words. Fa Shen was, but this did not strike her as the best time to be Fa Shen. "The hardest part of mastering ki attacks is believing you can really pull one off. After what you did, I don't see why you think you can't find the trigger to change back. I'm tellin' you, if you just work at it, you'll be yourself again in no time. But you have to merge with your other half to do it. If I had known I could take my reflections back, that it wouldn't be like killing them, or if I hadn't let my stupid old man con me into thinkin' I should keep them, I would have gone back to normal."

            "I can't go back to normal! I am cursed now! Just because it's not a water curse doesn't mean I'll never change once I can get back my normal form!" he shouted angrily. "So, maybe I don't really want to stay a guy, and maybe I could have it so I'm only a boy part of the time, but I'll never be just a girl again! If I want that, and I really do want that, this is the only way I can have it."

            "Don't fool yourself, Akane," Ranma shook him wearily. "She'll never be able to live her life knowing you have shut yourself out of it, sacrificed yourself for her. It's a stupid idea, and if you fall for it, then you're just stupid, dummy."

            Akane growled, fighting the urge to pummel the red-head into the ground, "I can't believe you! Can you be any more of an insensitive jerk!? Can't you even give advice without throwing insults!?"

            Ranma cringed for a moment. When no blows rained down on her, she looked up through the arms she held over her head. "If that's what it takes to make you go back and reverse this. I'd do anything to keep you from makin' the same mistake I made," she insisted, gradually straightening and dropping her arms. "Maybe it's stupid to ask you to trust me, after everything… I mean, in a way this is my fault. Still, trust me about this. If you hate me for everything else, please don't hate me for trying to spare you some misery."

            Akane calmed down suddenly, giving the girl's face a searching look. "It really means that much to you?"

            Ranma nodded, grabbing his arm again and tugging gently in the direction of the manor. 

            "Fine. I'll give this a try. But, if I can't find the trigger, I will have to consider splitting off like this. I can't go back to my family like this!" he declared vehemently. Ranma cringed at the note of shame and revulsion. 

            As they joined Onna-Akane and the two elders, Cologne called their attention. "As you know, temporary curses can last for about a week before they begin to decay. Unlike most, this one can only be reversed by hot salt-water. Since there will be a residue in your chi for some time after you reverse the curse, you won't be able to work on the trigger safely until the contaminated chi is burned off. That means, no ki attacks!" She gave each Akane a hard, measured look. "With that in mind, you might wish to wait a while before reversing this." 

            "Are you suggesting this for my benefit?" Onna-Akane asked. 

            "You would certainly have an easier time of it than your twin, for the duration," Cologne acknowledged, watching the male twin's reaction. "However, upon merging the experiences you both have separately will pool together. Since either way you are forced to live for a while as a man, this is one way to soften the impact and possibly gain a bit of insight into yourself in the process."

            Ranma gave each Akane a considering look and nodded, "You know, that's not a bad idea. A week is long enough to figure our for yourself that being split like this really sucks. That might give you the encouragement to master the trigger to your curse."

            Cologne carefully hid the proud smile that wanted to surface. It looked like the child she had taken under her wing was truly gaining wisdom. 

            "What about Ranko?" Akane asked in stereo. 

            "Man, when she realizes she's been split again, she's gonna go ballistic," Ranma rolled her eyes. The sound of feet running down the steps was followed by a glimpse of Mousse's robe flashing across the doorway, as he stormed out of the house. Ranma's eyes narrowed as the sight reminded her that Duck-boy had been out consorting with the enemy earlier. As she rose, intent on pursuing him, Shampoo showed up in the door way, seeking out Ranma's gaze.

            "Ranma? Shampoo need to have talk with Fa Shen. Is very important! You come with Shampoo now, yes?" 

            "Fa Shen? I dunno, this isn't really the time… I just saw Mousse taking off, and he and I need to have a few words," Ranma protested. 

            "Fa Shen have bigger problem to worry about. Is deadly serious."

            Ranma turned to look at Akane, gaze moving from one version to the other. With a sigh, she turned and approached Shampoo. "You better not be playing games with me, Shampoo." As Shampoo shook her head, a faint tremor passed through the red-head's body. "Does this have something to do with Herb?" she asked, subtle changes in voice and poise conveying the personality of Fa Shen. 

            Shampoo shuddered, giving a nod in reply. "That too too creepy."


	9. Part Nine

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Nine

Ryouga stood with one hand desperately clenched over his nose to staunch the bleeding. With his eyes closed, he finished counting slowly to ten. When that failed to settle the emotional chaos evoked by Ranma's proposition, in the wake of a day of unsettling twists and upheavals, he upped the count to one hundred, wishing he could get the image of a certain red-headed girl laying gloriously naked in his arms out of his head. He had been trying, very hard, to keep up with the erratic personality shifts that had suddenly overtaken the Saotome triplets, but there simply had not been enough time to adjust. He got the main thrust of it, that having three personalities did not make them any less the same person than having three bodies to put them in. For a moment there, two of them had been Fa Shen, and seemed poised to go at it right in front of him over who had to be Ranma. In spite of himself, Ryouga almost wanted to see that. With the evolution of his own curse, the idea of someone literally screwing themselves had a sick and seductive fascination for him. He had not been able to get that image out of his head earlier, even when one of them took the initiative, playing off of Ryouga, to reclaim the identity of Ranma. 

            "Ranma! This is all your fault!" Ryouga growled, still pinching his eyes and nostrils shut. Those words came easily enough, to sum up the impact of the day's—the past week's—events. It was not, perhaps, the best response to the proposition to resume his relationship as Ranma's lover. 

            "Ry- Ryouga!?" Ranma instinctively shivered and pulled her shirt closed. 

            Daring to look at her, Ryouga sighed to see Ranma's assets covered, both by silk and one forearm crossed defensively over the other as Ranma held the Chinese tang closed with a self-conscious fist. He almost gasped at the look of rejection, the whiff of fear in her eyes. "Stop looking at me like that!"

            "Y- you d- don't WANT me?" Ranma did her best to make the question seem offhand, indifferent. Her eyes veered away from Ryouga's face though, unwilling to find an answer in his eyes. On a deep level, it would not surprise her to be pushed away. Nothing made Ryouga more angry or stubborn than the belief that someone was playing with his feelings, and Ranma's inability to admit her true desires had turned their relationship into a game of musical chairs. 

            "WANT you?" Ryouga demanded curtly, crossing his arms and staring at her. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he confessed, "I WANT you so bad I can hardly see straight! I WANT you so much I'm willing to take whatever part of you I can get my hands on!" He sagged a little and turned away, adding in a smaller voice, "I want you more than I can stand."

            Ranma blinked, not sure if that made sense. "Huh?" she challenged brilliantly. Ryouga flinched and stormed over to the water, taking a quick dip to cool off and change genders. "What did you do that for?"

            Ryouga shook herself and began to squeeze the excess fluid out of her shirt as she adjusted her clothes and climbed back out of the water. Blushing, but speaking in an off-hand tone, Ryouga stated, "I can't be a guy around you right now, or I'll blow a gasket. What was the big idea, coming on to me like that!?"

            "Uh, er… well, you an' I… you know… I mean, you an' Ranko wouldn't… well, because of the law… I just thought…"

            "You just thought!? It doesn't sound like you were thinking!" Ryouga snarled, thankful that her female form was a lot less hormonally unbalanced. Well, it had a different order of hormonal imbalance, but having only one head dictating her course of action made navigating through social situations a great deal easier. "Just… tell me… Tell me I didn't watch the three of you tear yourselves up over me over… over sex," Ryouga bit her lip, avoiding eye contact with the red-head. Granted, the idea that Ranma wanted Ryouga, hell, that each version of Ranma wanted Ryouga, was not exactly bad for the lost boy's ego. 

            Ranma stared at her lover. She thought she had explained everything. She had told the truth about the bind she had gotten into, as Ranma and Ranko, because of her feelings for him. Only, Ryouga was not asking for confirmation of those feelings. Her look evolved into a glare as the implications of Ryouga's words started to penetrate. As if offering herself to him—her body and affection being the most valuable things she could give as an apology—somehow made her cheap. As if the only thing that mattered to her was getting laid. "What are you trying to say, P-Chan?" she asked innocently, in an icy voice. 

            "Don't CALL me that!" the lost girl snarled.

            "Then don't act like such a pig!" the red-head snapped back.

            "PIG!?" Ryouga roared, hand flashing out to catch Ranma by the collar. "You wanna explain that before I knock your head off, BITCH!?"

            "Oh-ho ho! Pot calling the kettle now, innat so, BITCH!?" Ranma smirked cattily, making no effort at all to raise a defense. Part of her welcomed the thought of getting into a royal battle with Ryouga, every bit as much as she would a more sensual entanglement. 

            "Don't FUCK with me, Ranma!" Ryouga cocked her fist threateningly.

            Ranma snorted, "Yeah, I got the message the first time. You wanna explain it maybe? When did you start having a problem with fucking me, Ryouga?" There was a dangerous edge coming into Ranma's voice now. The descent into truly vulgar language was uncharacteristic of their fights. It was like taking the gloves off, stating that they were headed into a very serious conflict, a contest with wounded pride on both sides. A fight with everything on the line. 

            Before Ryouga could respond to the challenge, anger paving a direct path to a familiar destination, the loud crash of a body erupting from the surrounding woods, and the singing of metal as a tremendous spatula swept in, forced the two girls to dive away from each other for cover. 

            "What the hell is going on here!?" Ukyo demanded, reaching the end of her head long charge. She unconsciously recovered from the mighty swing and brought her trademark weapon up in a threatening position. Her eyes were locked on the unmistakable form of Onna-Ranma, sprawled next to the fire. 

            Ranma and Ryouga were too shocked by her appearance to reply. 

            Ukyo took the moment to collect her wits. It had been difficult enough trying to track Ranma and Ryouga down through the woods. Following the trail of trampled grass and disturbed bushes in the dark was no easy task, but fortunately the Saotome triplets had made no effort at stealth to and from the cascade pools they had visited twice that day. However patient Ukyo forced herself to be in her pursuit, the delay had only fed her anger, abetted by thoughts of Ryouga tossing Ranko aside to try and seduce Ranma again. Frankly, she had been privately pleased by the idea of Ryouga betraying Ranko like that, since it would destroy the relationship that had started during the trip to China and give Ukyo a better chance of claiming Ranko for her self. 

            Unfortunately, she could not stand the notion that Ranko had obviously gotten hurt in the process. The image of Ranko's tear streaked face filled her with an urge to make bacon out of the lost boy. Or girl, she noted in distaste as her eyes flickered to the other form sprawled before her. But Ryouga could only distract her for an instant, compared to the impossible sight of Ranma.

            "Why are you a girl now!? I thought your curse was locked, Ranma!" the chef challenged. Ukyo had fully expected to arrive and find a female Ryouga seducing the male Ranma, like before. But, that had to be Ranma, her befuddled brain insisted plaintively. She had come directly from meeting Ranko and Fa Shen, both in girl form. Cursing under her breath, she suddenly wished she had caught on to Ranko's distress and gotten the details from her before dropping the bomb about Akane. Despite whatever turmoil she had been in, Ranko had shoved it aside to express her concern at finding Ukyo storming out of the village. The okonomiyaki chef had failed to take proper advantage of her concern, instead goading her in pursuit of Akane at the news of her recent disaster. That had been pretty stupid, Ukyo accused herself. 

            Which was more or less the line of thought she had been on when she spotted the campfire and began her charge. Frankly, she was amazed she had caught them by surprise at all. She had been so focused on the gleam of fire light that had become her beacon, she had almost blundered into the tributary before catching herself, bursting through the bushes and stumbling to a halt on the opposite bank of the stream fed pool between her and her targets. 

            Before circling around and crossing over down stream of them, she had gotten a glimpse, silhouettes only, of a boy and girl poised on the verge of intimacy, which made the scene she interrupted twice as confusing. Since both of them seemed locked in an embarrassed silence, stealing angry or wounded looks at each other, Ukyo pressed on. "Look, one of you was a boy just a moment ago. I SAW it from the other side of the pool!"

            Ranma groaned. "Ucchan…"

            Metal clanged as Ukyo swatted her over the head, "You don't get to call me that! At least not until I get some answers, you jackass!"

            "Why?" Ranko winced, rubbing the top of her head and warding off another blow. "I mean, why are you even out here trying to attack me, Ukyo?"

            Ukyo ignored the plaintive response. "I'm here because of Ranko. Since it looked like the two of you were about to get into a cat fight, maybe I'm wrong about what's going on, but I swear to you, I am going to get to the bottom of this!" Ukyo promised, with a threatening shake in Ryouga's direction, as the bandanna-clad girl made to stand up. 

            "Fine. But you're interrupting a fight, so make it quick," Ryouga growled.

            "What do you think is going on, Uch… Ukyo?"

            Ukyo gritted her teeth, but ignored the slip. "I thought Ranko had caught the two of you getting frisky, or at least that Ryouga dumped her over you. In any case, she looked like someone ripped her heart out when we met, and I had a feeling I'd find you two together if I came looking." She sneered, "Then again, knowing you two, if she'd caught you fighting it'd be just the same as catching you flirting, or something. It can be pretty hard to tell." As she said this, she prodded at Ranma's chest with her spatula. Her shirt was still unfastened and had fallen open when she dodged, showing off most of her assets. 

            Ranma hastened to do up her front, her amorous feelings all but expunged between Ryouga's strange rejection and Ukyo's intrusion. Taking a deep breath, she decided to cut to the chase, "I don't see why I gotta explain this to you, but since you're butting in I might as well make it simple." Ranma's mouth worked abortively for a moment while her brain tried to organize the day's confusion. Blowing her bangs our of her eyes, she grumbled to a start, "Well, thing is, noting's as simple as we thought, an' there's a lot you don't understand."

            "Like I can't tell things have gotten too complicated," Ukyo twirled her spatula, grabbing it at the neck, just below the broad, flat blade, and grounding the other end at her feet. "I'll make it even simpler. I'll ask the questions and you answer. First question, did you steal Ryouga from Ranko?"

            Ignoring the menace of that question, Ranma stood up and looked Ukyo in the eye. "No. She gave him back to me. I didn't even ask—hell, I couldn't ask. I don't even know how much trouble I'm gonna be in when Mom finds out the truth," she confessed, looking away uncertainly at the end. Nodoka had given Ranma a choice about being a girl and marrying Ryouga, and she understood the obligations she would face if she did. It would not be easy to tell her mother that she had lied—to herself as much as to Nodoka—about wanting to be a man more than she wanted to be with Ryouga. It was true, in the sense that she had been raised to believe that, but she knew now it was not true in her heart. Of course, now she had some doubts about the wisdom of admitting the truth to herself. Glaring at Ryouga, she added, "It might not matter. He seems to have a problem with being with me all of a sudden."

            Ukyo was surprised by that, and turned to blurt at Ryouga, "Ranko dumped you? And, you didn't try to seduce Ranma?"

            Ryouga blanched and blushed in quick succession, "It's a lot more complicated than that. They're all the same, Ukyo. I can't make any sense of it, but I know they all want me. They all say that Ranma wants me, loves me… but they're all Ranma. I don't know what to do! I can't be with one of them without knowing the other two are going to be hurt by it!"

            Ranma started and turned on Ryouga. "That's why you're being such a jerk!? You- you're not- you weren't accusing me of being a slut?" The look on Ryouga's face was priceless. She clearly had not understood what Ranma had been about to come to blows with her about. 

            Ukyo's eye twitched, but she interjected impulsively, "Well, if the shoe fits…" This was more than enough to tear Ranma's eyes from her lover. 

            "Hey!" Ranma shouted hotly, and turned on Ukyo. 

            "I never-!" Ryouga finally mastered her voice to deny, but snapped around like a homing missile to target on the source of a slighting remark. "Ukyo! You take that back! How dare you call Ranma a slut!"

            "All I'm saying is… well, come on, Ryouga, even you have to admit what Ranma's been doing is, well…" Ukyo backpedaled nervously. Hastily, she tried to return to her questions, and the implausible hope of getting answers that made sense. "Forget that. Why? Why would Ranko give Ryouga to you!?"

            This brought Ranma and Ryouga up short. Ranma sighed heavily and gestured over to the fire, "You better sit down. This is gonna take some explaining." Once Ukyo and Ryouga had joined her around the flames, Ranma carefully rehashed the day's events for Ukyo. Ukyo confessed that Cologne had already shed some light on why Ranma and Fa Shen were being intimate, and the matriarch's assertion that the trio had been wrong about the division of their identities, making the discussion much shorter. Obviously, the triplets had stumbled onto that truth themselves, but Ukyo still had some difficulty following the description of how Fa Shen had shaken off Ranma's identity and stumbled upon the feelings Ranma had been denying in order to assert her manhood. Ryouga's account proved to be much easier for her to follow. 

            "…I don't really understand it, but that's why Ranko dumped me," Ryouga concluded, after describing everything up through the scene that unfolded around the campfire earlier.

            "Because, according to them, that was the only way to make Ranma pull herself together?" Ukyo clarified, watching the red-head flush with embarrassment. Ranma nodded, though, and Ukyo turned to her. "That doesn't make any sense," Ukyo frowned unhappily. "The whole point of dating Ryouga was to turn you into Ranko. How is being with Ryouga supposed to help you be Ranma…?" 

            "Ukyo, there isn't much making me different from Ranko. With all our memories and experiences shared, there aren't any differences at all, except for the stuff that's happened since the last time we, er, you know, merged an' all," Ranma confessed sheepishly, fighting the urge to illustrate with her hands rather than spell everything out. With a heavy shrug she pushed on, "Ranko an' I both had to give up bein' the real Ranma. But I still pretty much thought of myself as Ranma the night I went out with Ryouga. The idea was, if I could accept my girl side, I'd want to be Ranko, remember?" 

            Ryouga and Ukyo nodded.

            Ranma nodded as well, and continued, "It was supposed to work 'cuz as Copy-chan I was totally female, totally a girl that had fallen for Ryouga. But there was something I never admitted to anyone. I'd felt that part of me from the moment I got the curse, and I could never totally suppress it. I hated the fact that I spent over a week as a girl with no memory of who I really was. I was pissed about being stuck as a girl, and kinda scared, 'cuz I knew damn well how much of a girl I was inside. I was pretty ashamed too, 'cuz the mirror let everybody that girl," she confessed. " No one really gave me a hard time about it—thank God—but right away I was set up on a date with Ryouga." 

            Ryouga squirmed, shifting nervously as attention was directed her way. 

            "Okay, so you were still trying to be manly, or something. That's what I'd expect from you," Ukyo waved Ranma on. "But, if you felt so bad about being a girl, why did you still go along with the date?" 

            Shaking her head, Ranma responded, "I fought so long to keep those feelings from taking over, changing me. It was kind of a relief to be able to stop. It's just, like I said, I didn't really need to date Ryouga to be a girl." She sighed wearily, "I mean, I felt really pathetic about going on the date to begin with. I thought it'd destroy me, as Ranma, to admit I'd fallen in love with him, even if I hadn't been myself at the time. But part of me hoped for that—to just shatter and maybe go back to bein' like Copy-chan. Part of me just didn't think the date would work out at all. I was pretty sure that my past as a boy disgusted Ryouga." Ranma looked over at the lost girl, and suddenly smiled fondly, "But then you went on about how you felt about the old me. 

            "You started talking to me as Ranma, not Ranko. It's funny that my memories as Ranma actually made me more…" she paused to search for the right word. She smiled as it came to her, "…responsive to you. We fought all the time, but you were also one of the few people I could count on. Before that night, you never really saw me as a girl. My curse didn't change the way you treated me at all. Like, how I sometimes wouldn't notice I had changed, you couldn't spot me as a girl to save your life! I think you were the only person I could act totally like a girl around and not have to worry about you thinking I had any doubts about my manhood. You just couldn't think of me as a girl, not even with that damn koi rod makin' me throw myself at you." 

            She stifled a groan. If she had not been utterly ignorant about sex, Ryouga's sense of honor would not have been enough to protect her virginity through the nights they had spent together. There had been nothing she would have held back to please him and win him under the powerful love spell. "I'll admit, I thought of myself as Copy-chan the same as that. I knew she had… I knew you had feelings for her. I expected you to be disappointed when you realized I wasn't her." 

            Her body tightened, and her voice dropped, "When we got to talkin'… When you told me that you… you basically went through hell just 'cuz you wanted to say a respectable good-bye, it hit me. I didn't have to become someone else for you," she pulled back to rest her elbows on her knees and looked into Ryouga's eyes, letting the remembered awe of that moment shine in hers. "As weird as it was, me bein' a boy originally, you had feelings for the real me," she acknowledged, feeling a little weird. She was saying all this to answer Ukyo's question, but only by speaking directly to Ryouga could she manage to expose herself like this. 

            Ukyo was squirming in her seat, uncomfortable with the way Ranma was expressing herself. Not telling Ukyo directly, but letting her witness the confession of her private thoughts and feelings to Ryouga. In spite of her discomfort, she listened raptly as Ranma continued.

            "Instead of hating me, you accepted me the way I was, a boy who turned into a girl," Ranma scooted closer to Ryouga's side and put her arms around the lost girl. With a smile to herself, and a gentle squeeze for Ryouga, she resumed, "Akane's plan sorta backfired because of that. There I was, admitting I was a girl, to you and to myself, but what you said made me want to go on being Ranma. Go on being the person you loved. That's the difference between me and Ranko," Ranma finally turned back to Ukyo, now that she had reached the heart of the matter. Now, she could elaborate, "Ranko turned into a girl to stop bein' Ranma, that's why it was so important for her to be called Ranko. When she gave Ryouga up tonight, she let go of the one part of her that was fightin' to stay Ranma."

            "I'm not sure I get it," Ukyo complained half-heartedly. She tried to contain her annoyance as Ryouga cocked her head in confusion. With a heavy sigh, she tried to clarify, "I mean, okay, you still thought of yourself as Ranma, when Ryouga made a real woman out of you. My point is, you didn't have much of a choice at the time. You were stuck as a girl. Now that you have a choice, how can you still want to be with Ryouga? Why do you HAVE to be with Ryouga, why do you HAVE to be a girl, in order to be Ranma?"

             "It isn't really about that. Don't get it?" Ranma flicked a twig into the fire. Ranma leaned into Ryouga, tightening her embrace and staring off into the dark over the flames. "Ranko might be able to explain it. I suppose if I look at like her," Ranma trailed off and shook her head. "Actually, Fa Shen got it first. I was jealous of Ranko. Not over Ryouga. I mean, I pushed him on her hoping they'd be happy together. I was jealous 'cuz she got away with deciding to be a girl. She took control of her own life, but since I had an obligation to be Ranma, I still had to be a man-among-men. But I'd already proved to myself that I was as much a girl as a boy, and that maybe I was happier that way." She sighed heavily, shifting her gaze to study Ryouga's profile. "Ranko didn't just give me Ryouga. She was telling me it was okay to be a girl if that's what I wanted—it's okay to want the things I wanted. She was telling me to decide what it meant to ME to be Ranma," she finally revealed, surprising both Ukyo and Ryouga. 

            But the silence could not last. Ukyo jumped up shouting, "That's just GREAT! ALL of you WANT to be girls!?" She watched Ranma cringe under her outrage, but she could not really help herself. It had been building up since the fiasco with the mirror started. "Are you INSANE, Ranma!? First Ranko, now you! I suppose Fa Shen was a forgone conclusion! But you! How could you possibly WANT to be a GIRL, Ranma?" she demanded, anger overlaying deeper feelings of hurt, rejection and disappointment. 

            Ranma stood, unable to take Ukyo's rebuke sitting down. Sounding defensive and irritated, but managing to keep from being angry, she declared, "Because I AM a girl. I should have been a girl from the beginning maybe, but even with just the curse, no matter what I said different, when I have this body, I AM A GIRL!"

            "But you were a boy," Ukyo protested, her stance growing a bit weaker, less certain. "You were male for sixteen years, I don't understand how you can turn your back on all of that just because you got laid by this jackass here!"

            "Do you mind!? I'm not deaf, you know!" Ryouga grated. 

            "You don't have to ask me! You're the one who turned her back on bein' a girl, just because my crooked old man conned your father outta your dowery! What right do you have to object!?" Ranma shouted off without thinking.

            Ukyo reared back, lip trembling as shock and hurt slipped out before a flood of pure outrage, "You! You JACKASS! No, You ASSHOLE! I didn't CHOOSE to become a boy! I didn't have a choice after your father HUMILIATED me! How dare you throw that back in my face!"

            "Then don't give me the same bullshit, Ukyo!" Ranma retorted, taking a deep breath to curb her temper. "I didn't have any more choice than you did. Even when it became an option, I didn't have a choice, 'cuz I hafta be a MAN," Ranma suddenly turned male as that last word was emphasized. "Remember that pact my old man made with my mom? Better yet, remember why I was even a boy to begin with? Who made those decisions, huh? Tell me I had it easier than you did!" Ukyo was not able to respond to that challenge, so Ranma set it aside. "Anyway, I never said nothing about givin' up bein' a guy. I can be both, remember. But if the only thing anyone cares about is tellin' me what I'm supposed to be, an' how I am supposed to be, an' no one listens to what I want to be, or how I want to live my life, then WHAT'S THE POINT?"

            Ukyo recoiled. "Wh-what's the point?" she stammered. 

            "I thought you understood," Ranma deflated a little. "I mean, you've been so hot to nab m- Ranko that you're threatening to get a curse if that's what it takes. Ryouga was able to figure it out, and he promised to do it too—even if it was an accident he really did get a girl curse." Ukyo blinked, flushing slightly as Ranma confronted her with her most recent obsession. "Well, pay attention, 'cuz this is what you'll face if you get cursed: If you really turn into a guy, no matter how you fight it, you will realize one day that you are a guy for real. Who you are doesn't change, but believe me, everything that makes a guy a guy will be happenin' to you, an' you might not see it comin' but when you suddenly look at the guys around you and understand you're one of 'em, and have been for a long time, it will be too late to go back."

            There was a short pause, and Ryouga timidly spoke up. "Are you serious? Is that what I can expect from this curse?" she asked, gesturing to her body. This was one time when her experience with a curse did not give her an accurate insight. Ryouga had strenuously avoided pigs, and the prospect of getting to know any of them well enough to identify with them. 

            Ranma turned to look at the lost girl. "It depends on how hard you fight it, Ryouga," he admitted, finally noticing he was male again. With a shrug, he added, "Maybe figuring that out is part of mastering a curse. But if you run into enough people who don't know you're supposed to be a guy, it'll start to happen. If enough people call you a girl—or treat you like a girl—often enough, you'll start to believe it. It don't mean you stop bein' a guy, but as a guy you have to deal with that. That's the hardest part. That's the part that can make you crazy, or make you hate yourself and beat yourself up. An' Ryouga, it's really hard to win if you start fightin' with yourself."

            Ukyo shook her head, interrupting, "Maybe I CAN understand that, Ranma. I… It's pretty obvious you can be a girl, and I've thought it might happen since I found out how… complete the curse was. But you didn't really answer my question. I asked how you could CHOOSE to be a girl?"

            Ranma skirted the fire, coming face to face with his former fiancé, and examined her features for a long time. Finally he spoke, his form shifting as the words started to spill from his lips. "It's really important to a lot of people for me to be a guy," she began, automatically adjusting clothes to accommodate her smaller stature. "I don't know if I ever really thought about it much—bein' a guy, I mean. What I did know was that it mattered to people around me, that people expected certain things from me 'cuz I was a boy. 'S funny, though. When I managed to live up to expectations, people just demanded or expected more from me. Especially my old man. I don't have to tell you that my worth as a person was based solely on my accomplishments as a man. But I could never satisfy anyone. No matter how much I had to be proud of, how much I accomplished, I was never a good enough man in anyone's eyes. 

            "It took me a long time, and I had to lose everything I thought I had to begin to get it, but here it is. My happiness was always dependent on making everyone else happy. Since I could never make everyone happy…" she grimaced. "Hell, I could rarely make ANYONE happy. The point is, I don't think I was ever happy. Actually, I think I've always been pretty miserable, but was too proud to let anyone see it, and I'd sorta gotten used to it. 

            "Maybe I never woulda known it myself if I hadn't lost everything," she modified, thinking back. "It's funny that the first time anyone came right out and showed any concern about me being happy with my life was when I was 'stuck forever' as a girl, and Akane set me up on a date with Ryouga. It's the first time I can think of where the whole point of doing something was for me to have a good time and find out if I could like my life. The funny things is, I did. I had a good time, and for once I could say I liked my life. I loved it," she sighed and tossed her head. "I expected things to go to hell right away, so I was ready for what happened when I got home. I guess it didn't seem natural for me to be happy, but at least I finally had a definition of happiness. That's why I chose to be a girl, though, Ukyo. It's not so much to change—to be able to be myself and be happy with that. I mean, it's not like I can never be a guy."

            Ukyo did not know what to say. She could feel the stricken look on her face, the part of her that wanted to shout, "What about MY happiness?" Perhaps if she had not convinced herself that Ranko was "her Ran-chan", she would have blurted it out. Another part of her was thinking that Ranma had simply convinced her that becoming cursed was even more necessary. It was clear to her that if she really was a guy, nothing would stand between her and a relationship with Ranko. In fact, it would perfectly parallel the relationship Ranma had with Ryouga, a relationship evolved from friendship that transcended such things as sex and gender. Instead of voicing these thoughts, she stated in a dead tone, "So, you're really picking Ryouga, then."

            Ranma blushed and glanced over at the lost girl. Clearing her throat, she confessed, "By amazon law, I'm already married to him. I made the choice over a week ago, and I can't escape it now." Certainly, once the details of her situation were sorted out by the elders, she would be forced to acknowledge that. It was simpler to just admit it now. Besides, it would clear up the mess Akane created by pounding on Ranma all day. No one would expect her to give the tomboy a kiss of marriage if she was already married to Ryouga, right? Ranma sighed, putting that thought out of her mind for the moment. 

            Ukyo hung her head. "You know what this means for me, then."

            Ranma whipped her head around to stare at her "best friend". Ukyo did not need to be more specific. They both knew that Ukyo's only hope of reclaiming her womanhood was if Ranma married her. While either of Ranma's twins might fulfill the same contract, there was little chance either would claim Ranma's identity to do it—even if they were perfectly capable of being Ranma. "I- I'm sorry, Ukyo," Ranma murmured, looking down. This was what she hated about being Ranma, the expectation to provide for someone else's happiness, feeling the obligation to do the right thing for someone else, even at the cost of her own happiness, but owing that obligation to more people than she could ever possibly satisfy. Not even when there were three of her could she meet those expectations. All she could do was live up to the commitment she had actually made, however unusual the circumstances. 

            Ryouga sat across from them, feeling deafened by the crackling of the fire in the ensuing silence. The wash of light created a faint curtain that blurred the fine details on each of their faces. She was grateful for that, since her own face betrayed a strange mixture of guilt and elation. Her fragile hopes of happiness with Ranma had taken a beating since they had blossomed on their fateful date. Her fears, that this latest confirmation of Ranma's feelings might also be thrown into confusion and doubt, had been soothed by Ranma's words. Ryouga still felt concerned about the cost to Ranko and Fa Shen, sharing Ranma's feelings for Ryouga but being unable to share Ryouga. After that day, Ryouga would never really be able to think of them as people separate from Ranma. All she could really do, however, was hope that a person like Ranma could find happiness down other paths. Paths they would be forced to take, because the path leading to Ryouga was already taken. That hope was denied to them as surely as Ukyo's hope for Ranma was denied. 

            Ukyo finally sighed and reached out to Ranma, "It's not like I wanted you more than Ranko. It's just… I needed to believe the option was there, Ranma. You were the only reason I had to remain a girl."

            "Ucchan!" Ranma gripped the chef by the upper arms. 

            "No, Ran- Ran-chan," she shook the red-head's hands off. "I appreciate you trying to keep me from making a mistake. I've been listening to what you've said, though, and the more I hear, the more I think it's exactly what I need to do. Maybe it will make things possible for me and Ranko, but there are too many other reasons for me to get cursed. I have to live a man's life now. There's no way around it anymore, without losing the last shred of honor I have left. If what you say is true, that curse might just make it possible for me to live a normal life, find some kind of happiness as a man, even if I don't end up with Ranko."

            "But it's not fair," Ranma whimpered. 

            "When did that have anything to do with anything, Sugar?" Ukyo looked up and smiled crookedly at Ranma, "Stop worrying about me, Ran-chan. If I were you, I'd be more worried about Akane. I'm not the only fiancée you've jilted here, and she's already given herself a guy curse."

            Even the crickets seemed to go silent in shock. 

            "What are you talking about, Ucchan?" Ranma panted. 

            "What happened to Akane!?" Ryouga jumped up. 

            "Oops. Forgot you didn't know about that yet…" Ukyo mumbled before the two neo-girls swarmed her demanding explanations. It took a moment to calm them down enough to deliver a brief recapitulation of Akane's chi-wielding accident that afternoon, and the effects it had on her. If Ranma had not been forced to race back and grab Ryouga, who sprinted off in the opposite direction, Ukyo might not have even seen the pair of them take off. With a heavy sigh, she hefted her giant spatula and pursued them back to the village. 

Ranko lay perfectly still as consciousness returned. Her last memory was of the most excruciating pain she had endured since her neko-ken training, and the lingering ache was warning enough of potential danger. Expanding her senses, she was surprised to detect two familiar presences. One lay stretched out beside her on the pallet, while another hovered over both of them in maternal concern. Sensing her mother, she was inclined to relax, but she could not help but frown as she tried to identify the other. Letting her aura expand below the visible threshold, she was even more startled to feel a similar probing aura reach out to her. Intimately familiar, but instantly polarizing her own. Lurching upright, she turned to stare into the eyes of, "Ranma?" she chirped in surprise. To her shock, he had uttered the same name, and his automatic retort echoed the one that sprung to her lips, "No. I'm Ranko, dummy!"

            "Ranko," Nodoka spoke up at once, reaching out a hand to each of them. In the moment, she forced herself to ignore the fact that the blankets she had pulled over their nude forms were now pooled around their hips. Her gentle touch drew their attention to her, even as alarm spread through their features. 

            "Mom! What's…" even as their question began, they both realized what was going on, and turned to stare at each other aghast. Cringing at the sight of their feelings reflected on the other's faces, they groaned, "How can I be split AGAIN!?"

            Nodoka sighed heavily, pulling their gaze to herself again, "I'm sorry dear. The water you used was for Akane…"

            "What!? Why was Akane trying to split herself?" they demanded. 

            "Oh, dear. This is going to take some getting used to," Nodoka murmured, disoriented by the stereo quality of their outbursts. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Do you know about what happened to Akane?" They nodded, the look of anxiety they shared explaining their fears. "Well, one of the village elders, Po Shen she's called, made an instant curse that would split Akane into cursed and uncursed forms. That is, to find out if she had a normal form to return to. I should have warned you when you came in, but I just didn't think…"

            "It's okay, Mom. These sorts of things just seem to happen to me," Ranko confided. She ignored the fact that her opposite did too, and tried not to freak out at him studying her as intently as she was examining him. With a smirk, they said, "Well, it's an amazon village…"

            "So that means I have precedence?" Onna-Ranko finished. 

            "Unless you think we could argue over it and not go nuts," Otoko-Ranko laughed. "At least we've got some experience with this."

            "But who'da thought it'd be a necessary skill?" Onna retorted. 

            They both laughed, but at least not in perfect unison. Taking a deep breath, Onna turned to Nodoka, "You said it was an instant curse?"

            "Yes. Oh, except the elder put-"

            "Salt in it, right?" Otoko asked, exchanging a nod with Onna. 

            "Why, yes. That is correct, how-?"

            "It explains why we're in different forms," Onna explained as rapidly. At their mother's reproving look, silently rebuking them for cutting her off, they blushed and laughed nervously.

            "Sorry," they echoed. 

            "Very well. I take it you understand the situation then?" After a pair of nods, Nodoka gave them both a concerned look, "Will the two of you be okay?" 

            They exchanged a look, reading their thoughts on each other's faces. "I think we can handle this. I think we're more concerned about Akane," Onna spoke for them. 

            "Well, I think they continued without me. If you feel up to it, we could go down and see how she is doing," Nodoka offered, rising to her feet. In reply, they silently rose and made to follow, noticing at the same time that they were both naked.

            "Ah, I need to get dressed first," they announced bashfully. As Nodoka blushed and excused herself, they shook their heads. "I can't believe I was staring at you the whole time and didn't notice," they both complained. Catching each other's eye, they blushed, "I guess you enjoyed the view?"

            The question filled both of them with an odd feeling. The reality of the situation suddenly gripped them as the implications of their current state began to unfold in their minds. The pair of them began to glow a darkening shade of crimson as the means, motive and opportunity became crystal clear, and each noted that the desire was mutual. "Oooooh, that's one problem solved," they breathed, eyes locked together in understanding. Thankfully, the need to follow their mother downstairs, and the certainty that she would come back in to check on them if they delayed, made them pause. "Akane first," they agreed. "But later…" the promise was left unspoken. What more needed to be said?

            After getting dressed, they made their way down to the dining room. There was the usual round of questions and discussion attendant upon the sort of fiasco they had brought upon themselves, but soon enough they had been brought up to date on Akane's situation. Most of the discussion had unfolded while the two split individuals stared at each other in unremitting fascination. It was not until the Ranko twins were informed that Akane was remaining split for the week, and they were encouraged to do likewise, that Ranko remembered to ask about Fa Shen.

            "I don't suppose Fa Shen's been by?" Onna-Ranko spoke up, tearing her eyes away from Otoko-Akane. "I kinda threw her off in my rush to check on Akane."

            "Fa Shen arrived just after you were split, Ranko-chan," Otoko-Akane answered, trying to draw her attention back his way. As she looked up at him, he filled her in, "She was pretty upset at you, but seeing what happened, she got distracted. Then she, ah, well, she became Ranma for a while, and he took both of you upstairs. Then after I was split, Shampoo came and asked to speak to Fa Shen, so she took over and they went off together."

            Otoko-Ranko jumped in, looking as startled as his Onna, "Fa Shen became Ranma? What- why?"

            "Apparently, while trying to explain Ranma's feelings for Ryouga," Cologne cut in, with mercilessly amused look, "Fa Shen found it easier to let Ranma speak for himself. Don't look so surprised. If you had been willing to confide in me, about your threesome, I could have warned you this was going to happen. I suppose you are lucky that the twins water does not divide a person on the basis of personality. Two forms and three personalities, I suspect there would have been at least six of you right now, and I hesitate to think you would have survived the experience, Ranko."

            "Ehhrrr," the two of that name slurred intelligently. 

            "I am glad to see the two of you are well, however, and I suggest that everyone turn in for the night. It's been a long day and tomorrow promises to be even longer." As she rose, she was nudged in the ribs by Po Shen. "Oh, yes. I almost forgot. The, er, four of you find yourselves in something of a unique position. If you should happen to find yourselves tempted to, ah, indulge in a more intimate examination of your split-cursed states, I should remind you that sex could easily burn off the instant curse and leave you without the means to become the individuals you started out as." Even through the amused expression, the seriousness of her warning was written on her face. Leaving the blushing duos, and the perfectly flustered Nodoka, the two elders silently excused themselves and went to the front door. 

            Under her breath, Ranko muttered to her Otoko, "The old ghoul never misses anything, does she?" 

            He shrugged and replied, "Maybe not, but did you see the guilty look on Akane's faces? I guess I'm not the only frustrated virgin in this group." 

            "What are you two whispering about!?" the Akane twins demanded suspiciously, ecchi senses on full alert. 

            Feeling a bit reckless, or perhaps suicidal, Ranko leaned into her double, trailing a hand over his chest and sighed heavily, "I was going to loan him to you, but it looks like even such generosity on my part won't convince you to loan me yours now." She raised the back of her hand to her forehead in a parody of lament. The moment while Onna- and Otoko-Akane gasped in apoplexy gave Ranko plenty of time to grab her counterpart and flee the room in laughter. 

            "You perverted, sex crazed maniac! You BETTER run!" Akane roared, in stereo, and took off in pursuit. Nodoka propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. She was not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry and proceeded to do a little of both, simply overwhelmed. 

Fa Shen realized she was staring at Shampoo, mouth agape. Even catching herself, she could hardly shake off her shock at what Shampoo had confronted her with. Unfortunately, after tonight, she could not argue with the other amazon's logic. In spite of everything, Shampoo's desperate gamble to head off competition from Mousse and Ryouga had worked. Technically, she had consummated her marriage to Ranma through Fa Shen. It hit her at the same time that the same logic guaranteed that the council of elders would also find that a marriage had been cemented between Ranma and Ryouga. The only surprising thing in this nasty development was the fact that Shampoo had implied a willingness to try and conceal the truth. That much had been clear in how she presented the problem to Fa Shen, saying, "Do you realize, if the elders find out about us, now that we know the truth about the three of you, they will declare our marriage to be official?"

            "You don't seriously think we can keep them from finding out, do you?" Fa Shen finally demanded, slumping to the ground in dismay. 

            "I don't know," Shampoo continued in their native language. "All I know is that you might never forgive me for this, and that would make it impossible for us to live together."

            Fa Shen laughed bitterly. "I'll tell you what would make it impossible for us to be married," she snorted, cursing herself for the truth she was about to speak, "You are not the one who brings out Ranma in me. If anything, you bring out me more than anyone else." 

            Shampoo tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

            Fa Shen sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She did not want to admit it to Shampoo, but more she hesitated to admit it to herself. The problem was, she was perfectly aware of everything she had said, and felt, when she had slipped into Ranma's personality to confront Akane. "Do you remember what Ranko said about the copies?" she asked instead, delaying her revelation. 

            Shampoo nodded, "She said that Copy-chan had been her girl side and Copy-kun had been her boy side. Only, that doesn't explain why the girl became Ranma when the boy became you."

            "Who we thought we were isn't as important as what we were made of," Fa Shen confided grimly. "Ranko was right, mostly. The copies reflected each side of her. The problem was, she was a fusion of Ranma and me, and when she delved into her psyche and pulled me and Ranma 'out of herself' she broke her hold on us. Our essence spilled out into the reflections. Fa Shen's essence was poured into the girl copy and Ranma's essence was spilled into the boy copy. But on the way, each of us crashed into the mind of the other, so we woke up with the opposite memories. I woke up as Fa Shen, because I had just absorbed all of her memories."

            Shampoo squatted down to look into Fa Shen's eyes. "Are you trying to tell me you are really Ranma?" she asked in disbelief. 

            Fa Shen wrinkled her nose. "We're all Ranma. We're all Fa Shen. What's different is how we mix the two together. But, most of what was Ranma, Ranma's original ki, is in me. Also, my experiences as Copy-Ranma were different than the experiences of Copy-Ranko. I was supposed to be the one who took over as Ranma. I remembered that when I 'woke up' as Fa Shen."

            Shampoo scowled. "Every time someone explains what 'really' happened that night, the story changes."

            Fa Shen laughed merrily, "Oh, yeah. I guess it does sound like that. It's funny how neurotic we are about trying to explain things. Still, I suppose the explanation should change. What happened was pretty hard to understand to begin with, but I can remember the experience. Spiritual things are never easy to explain, but we do our best to describe what we understand. As time goes on, though, that understanding changes. Things we missed or ignored the first or second time suddenly become obvious. But, wrong or not, explaining these things to ourselves keeps us from panicking, I guess."

            Shampoo nudged the other girl to her feet and they resumed their walk through the sleeping village. "So, there is a lot of Ranma in you, but I bring out everything that is Fa Shen?" she probed. 

            "Something like that," Fa Shen smirked, looking ahead as they walked, rather than at Shampoo. "My personality is better for dealing with you than Ranma's. He's sort of conditioned to flee from you, what with the kiss of death, the kiss of marriage and the c-c-cat thing I've been infected with."

            Shampoo nodded, not surprised to hear that Ranma had built up an aversion-in-depth to her presence. "If I can say it without offending, I'd probably be happier married to you than to Ranma. I don't think Ranma would ever be happy living in the village."

            "Not as a man, no. I don't think I would be either," Fa Shen growled. 

            "And that's the problem, isn't it. I forced you to be a man."

            "You caught me in a receptive mood, and to be honest, it was a lot easier than I could ever have imagined. The body and the spirit were both willing, and the mind was pleasantly distracted," Fa Shen chuckled, admitting at last that the experience had been far from unpleasant. "I enjoyed being with you. I just didn't count on it meaning more that that."

            "Does that mean you could stand to be married to me?"

            Fa Shen bit her lip. "I could stand it. If I loved you. If you loved me," she began, turning to raise a hand to cut Shampoo off before she could say anything. "We both know you don't love me, Shampoo. If Ranko was more of a man, it would be safe to say you love her, and certainly you find Ranma attractive enough to bed."

            Shampoo hugged herself, dismay and frustration apparent in both stance and expression. "It's Akane, isn't it? She's the one who brings out Ranma in you."

            Fa Shen shrugged, then nodded. "It's pretty obvious now."

            Shampoo stared off into the dark. "Is that what you want? Do you want to be Ranma for Akane?"

            Fa Shen sighed, "That's the problem, isn't it? I am Fa Shen. That's the last thing I should want, but if she can summon Ranma with a look or a motion, I don't exactly get a say in the matter. My siblings have both managed to blend Ranma and Fa Shen together in a way they can live with. I am still at war with myself."

            Shampoo seemed to come to a decision, turning to face Fa Shen. "Mousse knows about us. He knows what I figured out. He has gone back to the Musk, I am sure, to encourage Herb to defeat you as soon as possible. He wants you married to someone else before anyone can learn about our marriage. The elders would far rather see you recognized as a bride than a groom."

            "I'm not surprised," Fa Shen noted irritably. "I am sure he actually thinks he can discourage you from trying to claim me as your husband with the threat of co-marriage to Herb. Keeping you away from anyone else is all he seems to really care about."

            Shampoo grinned, "Stupid Mousse. If I thought you would love me back, I would share you with Herb, Ryouga, Akane, even Mousse if that was that it took to be married to you. Ranma would have been a good husband, but now that I know you better, I want much more. Don't think I don't love you because you're not Ranko or Ranma. I love all of you, and all of you come to think of it, and I'm starting to think you're my favorite part. The only thing that has changed is that I want more than your hand in marriage. I want what can never be bought, bartered, sold or stolen."

            Fa Shen found herself staring at the purple-maned amazon again. 

            Seeing the confusion on the other girl's face, Shampoo leaned in and kissed her fully on the lips. When she pulled away some moments later, she caressed Fa Shen's cheek and sighed, "What I want, is to look in your eyes and see love looking back at me. Nothing else is important, so nothing more will I dare to claim."

            Fa Shen let out a shuddering breath. "Damn, woman. If you could speak Japanese half as well, you would have had Ranma wrapped around your finger a long time ago."

            Shampoo smirked in self-satisfaction, "There was never enough time, my lips and tongue were too busy practicing… other things."

            "Er… you're not kidding," Fa Shen blushed. 

Herb glared at Mousse, while he considered the news the blind boy had brought. The two of them stood before the pavilion at the center of the Musk encampment, Lime and Mint standing sentry just behind Herb at the entrance to the palatial tent. Once the prince's bodyguards grasped the import of Mousse's visit, they had roused him from his bed. Herb showed his displeasure at the interruption of his rest by not inviting Mousse inside, but pleasantries and formalities had evaporated from his mind once he heard the amazon boy's report. 

            Since Mousse had been out of the loop, the most he could reveal about the newest developments in the triplet's lives came from Cologne's speculation. Herb already knew the trio intended to apply Fa Shen's Shokei Fist training to master their curses, from an earlier disclosure by Mousse, but the only way he had to interfere in their efforts required the use of the Kaisuifuu, which had been reclaimed by his father after his visit to the amazon village a couple of days ago. Unlocking their curses would make it more difficult for the red-headed twins to master them, but Herb had been forced to wait until the kettle was returned to him. 

            If Herb had known what Mouse came to reveal now, he would not have bothered waiting for such a slight advantage over Fa Shen. Finding out that the triplets could harness an awesome amount of power through sexual indulgence deeply disturbed the dragon prince. As long as two of them were free to engage each other in that way, Herb could not count on his own massive reserves of ki to outlast or overwhelm Fa Shen in combat. Learning at the same time that all three of them were gestalts of Ranma and Fa Shen, and not the discrete entities they had seemed to be at Jusenkyo, all three of them could legitimately answer his challenge to "Fa Shen". 

            "I cannot say that this news pleases me, Mousse," Herb finally declared, deliberately using the bastardized version of the amazon boy's name that was used so blithely by Ranma and his Japanese acquaintances. "It is, however, valuable intelligence, and thus you have once more lived up to the terms of our agreement." 

            "I am only doing what I must, Prince Herb," Mousse bowed crisply. Part of him hated himself, but that remained a true admission. All was fair in love and war. As there was a state of truce between the two ancient tribes, he was not quite committing treason. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his nerve to push, "Clearly, there is no time to lose. From what I overheard, the one who poses as Ranma has taken claim to Ryouga Hibiki. As with Shampoo, their relationship fulfills all the requirements of an amazon marriage that has been consummated. If you recognize that union, but not the one my beloved Shampoo has fallen into, with the one who poses as Fa Shen, Ranma can be forced to stand aside."

            "I am afraid I do not quite follow," Herb frowned. "What is the relevance of that?"

            "Well, as I said, all of them can claim to be Fa Shen, but they cannot participate in matrimonial combat unless they are eligible to be a bride. If all three fought, and you managed to defeat them together, they would all become your brides. But, if one of them is already wife to an outsider, only a male of the tribe has the privilege of challenging her for co-marriage," Mousse explained. "Recognize Ranma and Ryouga's marriage, and Ranma cannot interfere in the fight, even to help Ranko provide assistance to Fa Shen."

            Herb rubbed his lower lip thoughtfully, "Why not then recognize the marriage of Fa Shen and Shampoo as well, and direct my challenge exclusively to Ranko? None have final claim to her, as yet, so there would be no danger of my marriage to her being annulled by your council of elders."

            "Perhaps, but I have already claimed the right to challenge her, and have been waiting for her to be declared fit for combat," Mousse tucked his arms into the depths of his sleeves. Keeping his features composed, he nodded respectfully, "I mean no offense, but it is not to my advantage to have you wed Ranko and leave Shampoo married to Fa Shen. Under such circumstances, there is no reason for me not to pursue my claim to Ranko, and since my challenge proceeds yours, I guarantee you I shall defeat her and consummate the marriage at once." 

            "Indeed. I seem to recall that was our arrangement. In exchange for your information on Fa Shen, you would receive the training you need to be able to defeat her. Even though you do not truly seek her as your bride," Herb smirked haughtily. "I already know you have no qualms about thwarting my designs. Your interference in my battle with Ranma, misguided though it was, has not been forgotten. Still, your impertinence amuses me. See to it no other establishes a claim to Ranko, and I shall make my suit to Fa Shen first. As long as Ranko remains a potential bride, my options remain open."

            "I wish you happiness and success in your marriage," Mousse bowed formally, eager to bless any arrangement that kept Shampoo available to him. Deciding to throw in a bone, he added, unnecessarily, "I would not be concerned about having your marriage annulled. To recognize Fa Shen as a mere husband would be intolerable to the council, especially if she could legitimately claim the status of wife, in marriage to you."

            Herb nodded and turned away in dismissal, but paused to throw over his shoulder, "I also advise you to keep Ranko from interfering in the battle. I would take her involvement as an invitation to do with her as I see fit." Herb waited for Mousse's assurances and then marched regally into his pavilion to muse upon what he had learned. 

            Mousse turned to the silent young men that had witnessed this impromptu audience. Lime and Mint stared back at him impassively. Mousse counted down mentally, knowing what to expect from the duo, once their master was out of sight. 

            As Mousse reached zero, the pair lurched forward, and demanded in unison, "Do it again!" 

            With a sigh, Mousse turned away and muttered, "I should have known better than to try to learn chi attacks." Still, he was fortunate that shame was as powerful an emotion for him as pride. He had been quick to recover from his mistake, and so far this pair of imbeciles were the only ones to know of his folly. "I think it's time to work with a different emotion, now that I've mastered the basics," he replied, heading to where he practiced with Lime and Mint. 

            "Please?" they begged, dogging his footsteps. "We want to see your breasts again!"

            Mousse whimpered. He had no chance of keeping his secret if they accompanied Herb to the challenge fight. "At least they can't expose me with a splash of water," he consoled himself. 


	10. Part Ten

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Ten

Tsu Pai-Sei slipped his hand into the satchel hanging at his hip to confirm the presence of the Kaisuifuu within, for what must have been the hundredth time since he began his descent into the caverns deep beneath the Musk fortress. For a man not inclined to nervous gestures, this spoke volumes about the agitation and anticipation aroused in him by his quest. Long-lived though the imperial dragon line was, it had been generations since a Musk emperor dared to confront this particular dragon in its lair. Of course, he had been in the dragon's lair many times over the centuries, but it made a significant difference to know that this time he intended to wake it. Many times he had been tempted to risk it, simply to see more clearly what the thick ice concealed. This time, not only did he need to see the dragon clearly, he needed to beg its consultation. To many, the legend of Tsin-Na Minh was a great fish story; a tale of the one that had gotten away. In the way of such things, the third and fatal final attempt by Prince Ergot to claim a bride was turned into a moral lesson to instruct and guide generations of dragon princes in matters of pride and folly. 

            Spice had come close to writing his own chapter in that story, as a young man. He had been utterly fascinated by the dragon's story, and dreamed of being the man to claim it as his bride. Fortunately, he had been distracted by the appearance of Saotome Kenshin. Spice allowed himself a vicious grin. He had dragged that name out of the cursed boy through a skillful application of pain and pleasure, insulted by the ridiculous claim that he was THE Lo Shen of Musk legend. True, the appearance was correct, down to the curse he possessed, but witnesses had reported that Lo Shen died in childbirth and the Musk knew the identity of "her" only child, as well as that of "her" grandchildren. Spice could guarantee that Kenshin was not even a descendant of Lo Shen--however there was the possibility Kenshin was descended directly from Pa Shen. Her ultimate fate was never known. Spice would hardly be surprised to discover that she, at least, was still lurking around. After all, Cinnamon had endured for fifteen hundred years, and the last emperor to gaze upon "her" human face reported that "she" seemed to have aged not at all--in comparison to the portrait of Fa Shen. 

            Spice shuddered, remembering the features of Saotome Nodoka. It had not been difficult to obtain confirmation from agents in Japan that she was the daughter of Kenshin, but one look at her face had been convincing enough. Unfortunately, that look had not been enough to determine if she was also his daughter. It was disturbing that a set of features--the crimson hair, the ocean eyes--that would be recessive in the human genome were predominant in those descended from Pa Shen. Maybe seven or eight generations down the line--as proven among the amazons--different, if equally vibrant and extraordinary colorings eventually expressed themselves in the descendants of those cursed in Fa Shen's image. Depending on how many generations removed from Pa Shen this Kenshin had been, it was possible that these persistent traits masked the animal traits that marked Spice and Herb as dragon-spawn. Fortunately, the question would be much less ambiguous to a true dragon, especially when it, or rather she, was the truest enduring portrait of Fa Shen he knew of--with the possible exception of this Ranma that Herb had informed him of. 

            When he first learned about the martial arts prodigy, Spice could not have anticipated that the matter would end up striking so close to home. Spice never suspected that Kenshin was pregnant when "she" fled back to Japan with the Kaisuifuu. Thanks to the amazons, he had been prevented from finding and capturing his "bride" and when they later informed him of "her" death, he had forced the matter from his mind. Lies and deceptions, he now knew, but it was time to finally set matters straight. With the drop in air temperature, he knew he was almost at his destination. The heart of the dragon's lair was cavern entombed in ice. A kind of annex had been carved out of this subterranean glacier, along with a shaft into which the kaisuifuu could be slid. It would, as always, respond to the presence of water--regardless of state--by heating up almost violently and melting the vast cocoon of ice. 

            As he carefully made his way into the annex and pulled out the kettle, he smiled. If not for Kenshin appearing and distracting Spice with his curse, and later stealing this key to the dragon's crypt, he would have no doubt first confronted Cinnamon as a callous, arrogant youth--young being a relative term, since Spice was still a young man in appearance. Though several hundred years old by the time Kenshin appeared, as little as forty years ago he had been no wiser than Herb and foolishly confident of his ability to woo the rebellious dragon. With Kenshin, he had only a man's pride to conquer, and failed miserably. The same failure with Cinnamon would certainly have been fatal. 

            Spice had grown up more in that year than in any hundred years previous. The failure broke his obsession with the sleeping dragon and forced him to move on, find a mate and bear an heir. What he did not learn because of Kenshin, marriage and fatherhood had provided. He could be confident now that he approached the dragon untainted by foolish ambition. He just hoped the answers it might provide did not reduce his son's options for a suitable bride to the dragon itself. 

            Ranma had humbled Herb, but not enough for him to court Cinnamon!

            Letting the Kaisuifuu slide down the shaft, into the womb of ice, he retreated to await the dragon's awakening. If the records were correct, he had until the morning to compose himself and phrase the request he needed to make. The hiss of steam and the thunderous crack of ice was a strong testament to the veracity of past emperors' accounts. It seemed the Kaisuifuu regarded the sheer mass of frozen water as both insult and challenge, and the cavern began to glow with the ferocity with which it replied. Titanic were the forces at magic's command, the searing heat of the kettle caused steam to come boiling directly off the ice, building up incredible pressure that ripped open great fissures in the frozen mantle, allowing the hot gas to vent into the neighboring caverns-- shaking the very foundations of the mountain. Spice retreated with increasing haste. Suddenly, morning did not seem far enough away. 

Morning arrived all too soon for more than just the Musk Emperor. The group of talented young martial artists gathered under Cologne's roof met the new day with grumbled complaints. Primarily because most of them had the dubious pleasure of entering slumber through the judicious use of blunt force instruments, either as the natural result of provoking Akane--as in the case of two known as Ranko--or as the consequence of threatening the beauty sleep of a certain amazon matriarch--as Shampoo, Ryouga, Ranma and Fa Shen discovered, when the four of them met up at the front door and foolishly entered the house in a turmoil of questions and quarrelling. Strangely, the last person to get to bed had been Akane. After dispensing justice to Onna-Ranko and Otoko-Ranko, she had grabbed her male counterpart and the bag of sea salt Po Shen left on the dining room table, and marched off into the bath without a word to anyone. Clearly, she had decided not to wait a week before putting herself back together, but no one knew what had provoked her decision. In fact, certain individuals did not even know about it yet, setting the stage for a classic opening shot by Ranma, when he appeared at the breakfast table. 

            "Say, where's Akane?" he asked blithely, while sitting down between Otoko-Akane and Ryouga. On Ryouga's left sat Onna-Ranko, across from her, left to right, was Otoko-Ranko, Ukyo, Fa Shen and Shampoo. Cologne and Nodoka were at the head and foot of the table, on which the meal had already been laid out. In addition to not seeing Onna-Akane, Mousse was missing too, but before he could voice that observation as well, Akane reacted.

            "What! Are you BLIND!?" the youngest Tendo shouted, while crowning Ranma with a cast iron skillet. Both Rankos and Fa Shen automatically swept their plates through the air to rescue flying food.

            Ranma winced and rubbed the top of his head while wiggling his little finger in the ear facing Akane to combat the ringing. His siblings bowed their heads respectfully in relief that no food was spoiled, while Shampoo and Ukyo glared at Akane out of habit. Everyone cringed as Ranma once more proved impervious to negative reinforcement. 

            "Geez, even as a guy you're such a tomboy," he huffed indignantly. 

            "Where's your girl half?" Ranko quickly interjected, in stereo. 

            Akane paused in mid-mallet, and blinked, flustered by the reflexive impulse to look at the speaker and finding his attention torn between the boy and girl sitting across from each other at the table. After a second, his mallet faded out of sight and he shrugged. "I'm not split like that any more."

            "You're not? But I thought…" Onna-Ranko began, exchanging a look with her male half, who simply shrugged. 

            "Yeah, I know. Part of me could still be normal that way, but…" Akane looked down in discomfort. He studied his hands for a moment, and continued, "After our fight last night, I got worried. I mean, what would happen to my girl half if I had a surge of defiance? If I'm not split, the real me is still in here somewhere," he patted his chest meaningfully. "I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, I can handle being stuck like this for a week. I AM a martial artist, you know!"

            Most of the others at breakfast gave her a sympathetic look, or rolled their eyes at the characteristic rejoinder, but no one knew what to say. None of them had really expected to see the male Akane again, after their recent visit to Jusenkyo. The temporary curse had worn off and Ranko had splashed Akane with the chisuiiton for extra protection. No one imagined that what had happened to Ryouga could happen to any of the rest of them. 

            "That was probably a wise decision," Cologne finally offered. Short tempered and stubborn, Akane would have been tempting fate had he remained divided. The old amazon did not know if the chi-curse could have activated while it was divided--a normal curse could not have--but why take the risk? "I should advise you, remain vigilant. Do not attempt any chi attacks until we find a way to purge your aura. I am sure you do not wish to have a twins curse anymore than you wanted to have a boy curse, Akane."

            There was a round of shudders. 

            "As it happens, however, I think there is a solution for you and Ryouga that does not involve you using actual combat techniques," Cologne added. "From what I have seen, the ghost of a curse--yes, I'm making this up as I go!" Cologne interrupted herself to address the sudden suspicion of her teen audience, as it suddenly occurred to them that her explanations were always a bit too convenient and always too late. Clearing her throat and glaring, she continued, "A curse that has been shed into the chi mantle--more simply, the ghost of a curse--needs to be charged and released in order to infect someone. Ryouga has not thrown a shishihokodan since he was infected, yet he transforms when hit with a surge of depression." Cologne held out a hand and fired off a small ball of sickly green chi. When it hit Ryouga, he vanished into his clothes with a squeal of indignation. Cologne smirked, "As you see, it is the type of energy that triggers the curse. The opposite energy…"

            "I get it! Mokotakabisha!" Ranma impulsively shot off a burst of confident chi, which splashed over Ryouga just as the piglet was struggling through the neck of his shirt. The shocked boy struggled to slide his arms out through the sleeves as he suddenly reverted to humanity. "Yatta!" Ranma jumped up and danced around, "I can cure you! Now you can work on mastering your girl curse!" Ryouga eeped and struggled to get back into his boxers and pants without flashing anyone, blushing furiously. 

            "Well, that proved remarkably simple," Cologne quipped. 

            "Yeah. That means there's got to be a catch to it, somehow," Ukyo sighed, setting down her teacup. Actually, the catch seemed pretty obvious. A ki adept could control Ryouga's pig curse, or exploit it in battle. Even if Ryouga mastered both curses, the pig curse would always be a stumbling block. Ukyo wondered if she should point this out or not. There was a grim look to her as she stole another look at Ranma and Ryouga, across the table from her. She could easily picture things coming to a head with her fighting Ryouga over Ranma. There was still a part of Ukyo that wanted to reclaim her womanhood. A part that surged forth whenever Ranma reverted to his birth form and familiar bone-headed behavior. Not that it was easy to reconcile this morning's Ranma, the boy she fell in love with, with the Ranma of last night, who was every inch a young woman in love with Ryouga. Honestly, Ukyo had been surprised to see both of them show up to breakfast in male form. Narrowing her eyes, she asked Ranma pointedly, "Say, did you and Ryouga sleep in the same room last night?" 

            Ranma blinked in surprise as everyone fell silent at her question. Giving everyone a look, he shrugged and casually declared, "I guess so. I mean, I was in the guys' room when I woke up, so I guess someone put me in there when we all got knocked out."

            Akane spoke up, "That was me. After I put Ranko in bed, I discovered the rest of you unconscious so I dragged you all upstairs. Ranko takes up two futons now, but Mousse was gone, so I borrowed his." 

            "Whatever," Ukyo waved Akane's interruption off without breaking eye contact with Ranma. "You and Ryouga slept in the same room last night--ALONE?" Ukyo demanded with more asperity. 

            "Well, duh! I just said, Mousse didn't come in last night!" Akane growled.

            "Er… yeah, Duck-boy wasn't here this morning," Ranma confirmed. 

            "Right, so you had the room to yourselves all night." Ukyo set down her chopsticks and crossed her arms before voicing her aggrieved consternation, "How come you are both guys?" 

            "Huh? Don't you remember? Ryouga got some hot water when we came in last night," Ranma reminded acerbically. 

            "Yes. I also remember you didn't change," Ukyo nodded before scowling and leveling an accusing finger. "So, if you went to bed with Ryouga as a girl, why would you be a boy when you got up?" Ukyo seemed just shy of retching, and visibly shuddered. Akane looked mortified, mentally kicking herself for thinking nothing of putting Ranma and Ryouga in a room together. Long used to ignoring the state of Ranma's curse and dealing with him always as a boy, she had automatically been treating Ryouga the same. It had not occurred to her that it had become improper for them to sleep together. 

            "Duh! I obviously changed in my sleep! What did you think hap-" Ranma tipped over in shock as he realized what Ukyo thought had happened. Ranma picked himself up from the floor and shouted, while everyone else feigned deep fascination with their breakfast, "Damn it! Why is it two people can't sleep together without people thinkin' they're sleepin' TOGETHER!?" The hand gestures accompanying this outburst proved too much for Nodoka, who produced the most unusual permutation of a squeak, choked, and sprayed tea from her nose. 

            The Saotome siblings, at present numbering four, all stared at their mother, stunned by this unprecedented loss of composure from the perpetually poised paragon of feminine propriety. "Mom? Are you okay?" Ranko and Ranko asked, just barely beating out Ranma and Fa Shen. 

            Nodoka, for her part, was doubly embarrassed. It was not as if she had not been warned by Fa Shen the night before, but she had made the unfortunate mistake of picturing the liaison Ukyo was implying, while quietly lamenting the outcome of the man-among-men pledge. "That was certainly NOT what I intended!" she muttered to herself, as she hid behind a napkin and demurely tried to void tea from her nasal cavity. When she felt able to speak normally, she cleared her throat, "I'm fine, children. Really, Ukyo, that was hardly appropriate for the breakfast table!"

            "Sorry," Ukyo bowed her head. 

            Nodoka accepted the apology with a matronly nod, then turned a measuring eye on Ranma. Because of her adoption by Cologne, Nodoka had been acquainting herself with amazon law. Given that, and what she had learned the previous night, it was a wonder she had gotten any sleep at all. Clearing her throat, she inquired, "I suppose it's no use trying to ignore things at this point. I believe there was something you needed to tell me, Ranma-chan?"

            Ranma gulped, managing not to choke only by virtue of the fact he swallowed his food as fast as he shoveled it into his mouth. His eyes met his mother's for a long moment, during which he gradually changed into a girl. She could almost map the mental process that forced the change, starting with the implicit understanding of what Nodoka was referring to. "Mom, I-" she began, but could not find words to continue. Ukyo had hinted last night that the cat was already out of the bag, and Nodoka's prompting confirmed it. Taking a deep breath, she pled, "I can explain."

            "In a way, you already have," Nodoka admitted, referring to Fa Shen's personality shift, disclosing the situation to Akane as Ranma. "Please do not be afraid," she begged in a heart-torn voice. "I simply wish to understand what is happening with my so- my child, and find out if- if- or rather," she hated the fact that she was so rattled. Trying another tack, she confided, "I have been studying amazon law. Are you aware of- of the consequences- of the obligations you face by recognizing what you and your f- fr- friend have done?" 

            Ranma stared back, terror subsiding as the sight of her mother's discomfort perversely restored her composure. Taking a sip of tea and then clearing her throat, she tested, "You mean, do I know that we're married by amazon law?" Nodoka nodded, flushing. Ranma looked at Ryouga and sighed. "I still think they're stupid laws. I don't think I'm ready to be married. Hell, I mean, I'm the bride for cryin' out loud, and there's a big difference between bein' a girl and bein' a--well, GIRL, I guess. I'm more of a tomboy."

            Nodoka studied her "daughter's" face for a long moment. 

            "I remember the choice you gave me," Ranma stated firmly, looking very determined and a faint bit insecure. Motherhood was an implicit consequence of choosing to be female. That was still frightening, but it was something Ranma could cope with because Fa Shen had been prepared for the possibility. "I understand the obligations I have, because of the choice I made. The only thing I didn't know was that I already made the choice. I can't live with myself if I try to deny that."

            Nodoka nodded distantly. Her thoughts were well over the horizon, debating matters of honor and family, weighing the remaining options and obligations. Her eyes drifted over to Ryouga, who sat rigid, hope, fear and desperation warring beneath the surface, while studying Ranma at his side. He had such unfortunate short-comings, but then so had Genma. He had a sense of honor, misguided though it seemed to have often been. He seemed to possess a passionate nature and obviously loved Ranma very much. He was a skilled and manly martial artist. Most importantly, he shared Ranma's curse. Having learned how the curse had scarred her children, shattered the boundaries of gender, she could not keep from thinking how difficult it would be for them to find happiness in a relationship with a normal person. Ranma could certainly do worse. 

            Nodoka spared a glance at Akane, not surprised to find the recently made boy studying Fa Shen shyly. There was another who had made his mark on her children, and been tarred with the same brush. The interaction between Akane and the version of Ranma that came from within Fa Shen had given her some hope that the Saotome-Tendo pact might be salvaged. 

            Nodoka did not even bother to look at Ukyo. She was painfully aware of the situation there. She had heard the confessions and confusion of the chef and the triplets by turns, and knew the girl would give up her womanhood entirely before giving up her claim to Ranma--she would certainly give that up in order to secure her claim to Ranko. How odd and frightening to see an individual claim that a path of disaster and tragedy was the only one leading to happiness. 

            Returning her gaze to Ranma, she realized why she could not complain about Ranma's fate. She had chosen it herself. In a sense, it was the final proof of Ranma's manhood. Taking a deep breath, she nodded formally and declared, "Then I shall recognize you openly and formally as my daughter. As such, there are certain conditions I must set, and certain obligations you will have to meet."

            Ranma bowed, "I understand."

            Nodoka offered a sad smile.

As confrontations went, the words exchanged between Ranma and Nodoka were deceptively reassuring. In spite of the calm and reasonable tones in which the mother and daughter came to an understanding, a thick tension hung in the air over the remainder of breakfast. As careful as they had been to skirt the lingering threat of fatal consequences that once defined the relationship between Ranma and Nodoka, there remained a sense of a ticking time-bomb ready to detonate at the slightest provocation. Ranko found herself, and her counterpart, glancing at Akane between subdued bites. It disturbed Ranko that the tomboy had not blown up over Ranma's defection. From the way Akane kept studying Fa Shen, Ranko decided that she had missed something important last night. Meeting the eyes of her male half, Ranko caught a hint of the same concern, but there were other things going on in his mind that she was not aware of. She felt a sudden surge of annoyance over their separation. 

            There was really only one thing she could think of that was worth being split in two like this, and because this was the result of an instant curse, she could not afford to indulge in it. Part of her was desperately ashamed about her growing obsession with sex, and part of her found the notion of literally screwing herself--as that seemed the only safe option available--obscene, but neither those concerns, nor the risk of being permanently split, was enough to erase the temptation. So, the rational part of her warned her to avoid her other half, which got the irrational parts of her mind worked up over the fact that she was shut out of whatever went on in his head. She tried to tell herself she just wanted to talk with the one person she ought to have a perfect understanding with--conveniently ignoring that the same rule applied to Ranma and Fa Shen--but really she just had an itch to drag him off somewhere alone. 

            Ranko noticed that she was staring at him too intently when he began to blush, but refused to look away. Ranko closed her eyes and sighed heavily. The only naked activity she should indulge in with him was a hot bath in salt water. Anything else would just invite more chaos. Forcing her attention back to Ranma, she decided it would be best to confide in her and try to draw Ranma out in turn. The changes Ranma was going through were setting off alarms in Ranko's head. She did not know what exactly was wrong, but the landslide was far from over and she did not want to be buried alive when things finally settled down for good. She also decided to put her other half on Fa Shen, get him to dig out whatever had come up between her and Akane--and conveniently put some distance between herself and him. Ranko conveniently failed to notice how quickly she had shied away from the part about curing her temporary twins curse.  

            As the meal ended, Ranko nudged her other self and suggested he talk to Fa Shen. The look he gave her before nodding told her his train of thought had not run very far from hers. She gave him a wry smile and then turned to spot Ranma. She frowned as she noticed their mother leaning over to speak privately to Ranma, disturbed by the fact that the disclosure was making Ranma squirm. As Ranko paused to wait, Nodoka turned to see who was approaching and smiled. 

            Ranko gulped at the look on her mother's face. 

            "Ah, Ranko, this applies to you as well," she announced, gesturing for Ranko to accompany her as she led Ranma out into the garden. Once they were far enough from the house for privacy, Nodoka continued, "As I was just mentioning to Ranma, I have been giving a great deal of thought to the matter of my daughters."

            Ranko resisted the urge to flinch and hold up warding gestures. "Oh?" she squeaked, trying to sound casual. She pasted a sickly smile on her face as she hoped she was not about to hear what she expected to hear.

            "Yes. Now, I am well aware that your past experiences are, well, rather extraordinary. I can accept at this point that you are truly both male and female. However… I might as well confess that I find little fault with your masculinity. You two seem to be a pair of fine young men, when you want to be. However, not even Fa Shen is what I would call entirely feminine," Nodoka declared with a hint of despondence. Nodoka tried not to feel too discouraged by the girls' twitching eyes. "Now, as I have said, I would be happy to recognize you as my daughters, but I assure you, any daughter of mine has to meet certain standards. Seeing the situation Ranma-chan has gotten herself into… Oh, my dear child, you have no idea how astute your comment was, about not being ready to be a bride! At least I was able to make a start with Ranko, but truly it is well past time you three were taught how to be proper young ladies."

            "Ah…" Ranma and Ranko blurted, stunned. 

            "Oh dear!" Nodoka broke off, startled by the sound of a body exploding out through the kitchen roof and hurtling up into the sky.

            "What did I doooo…!?" Fa Shen demanded as she sailed over head. 

            "Ba-a-ka!" Akane shouted, storming out of the house, glaring at the girl diminishing to a speck as she rocketed up into the sky. As he passed Nodoka, and encountered the disbelieving stares of Ranma and Onna-Ranko, he paused and snarled at the teens, "What are you staring at?"

            Nodoka cleared her throat and smoothed down her kimono. "Akane-chan, is it your intention to marry Fa Shen?" she asked sweetly, giving the "young man" before her an appreciative, measuring look. 

            Akane almost choked, anger and embarrassment warring for control, retorting, "It's not like that! She was asking for it!" Ranma slapped a hand over her mouth, to contain a bark of laughter, and faded behind her mother. Words like "irony" and "poetic justice" came to mind, as Ranma's eternal protest was quoted by Akane. Better to just stand back and enjoy it, rather than risk provoking Nodoka or Akane further by rubbing it in. 

            Onna-Ranko's attention was locked on the dwindling form of Fa Shen, apprehension etched on her face, as Otoko-Ranko marched out and pointed at Akane, "Is that how you thank someone for trying to help you out!" He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Onna-Ranma clapping a second hand over her mouth and abruptly bending over, before refocusing on Akane, who was whipping around to meet his accusation. 

            "Help me out!" Akane raged, "Who said I needed any help from a bunch of sex-crazed perverts like you!" Fortunately, his back was now turned toward Nodoka and her daughters, and he was too worked up to pay much attention to the smothered noises coming from Ranma--as she struggled to contain riotous laughter and a grunt of pain from taking an elbow in the ribs from Onna-Ranko.

            "Hey, if you wanna be a guy for the rest of your life…" Otoko Ranko let his retort trail off with an exaggerated shrug and dismissive wave. Catching sight of Ranma on the edge of his vision, squeezing her knees together as she remained bent over by her strange convulsions, it suddenly clicked that his sibling was not about to lose her breakfast. Having no idea what set Ranma off, his irritation swelled in the belief that she was laughing at him. While this added fuel to his temper, Akane's retort promised a real spark of ignition. 

            "Like I'd have a choice with what you two were planning…!"

            "Hold it!" Onna-Ranko interrupted, pushing between the two boys, as they surged forward to get in each other's faces. She had moved the instant her finely tuned senses informed her that the argument was on the verge of becoming a real fight. Thankfully, Nodoka had noticed Ranma's convulsions and pulled her off to the side, giving Ranko a bit of room. Shoving Otoko-Ranko and Akane apart and keeping a hand square in the middle of each of their chests, she demanded, "What are you fighting about?" She turned her face to Akane and chastised, "How could you go and attack Fa Shen like that!?"

            "If you only heard what she was saying, Ranko! She really, really was asking for it this time!" Akane heaved a breath and glared at Otoko-Ranko, "As for HIM… This idiot was encouraging Fa Shen to claim me as a husband!"

            "Are you insane!" Otoko-Ranko snapped. There was silence from the sidelines, as Ranma and Nodoka paused in their quiet exchange to stare over in surprise. Nodoka's challenge to Akane had been in jest, but if Fa Shen did have an interest in the engagement to Akane, this could not be ignored! They shared a stunned look and scrambled to their feet as the red-headed boy demanded, "Where did you get that idea!?"

            "Stop it," Ranko shook her other self, drawing his eyes to her. Turning to Akane she tried to point out calmly, "Akane, after yesterday, all Fa Shen has to do is kiss you and you'd be hers, especially with you like this right now."

            "I KNOW that!" Akane fumed, "But, I didn't think she really would. Until I heard her talking to this idiot about how to make me submissive and compliant and aroused at the same time!" 

            Ranko felt her eyes bulging, and whipped her head around to stare at her other half, "I thought Fa Shen didn't like submissive guys!"

            Otoko-Ranko blinked at both of them. A distant whistling sound rising in pitch and volume started to tickle the back of everyone's mind. His eyes narrowed on Akane, "You dope, you don't know what you're talking about! You got it totally wrong!"

            Akane lurched forward, hands fisting in preparation to deliver his retort. "Oh? Is that so?"

            "Oh, like you have any clue what was going on before you jumped in!"

            Onna-Ranko braced her feet and pushed them apart again before she became squashed between them. Part of her mind was screaming about the significance of the increasingly piercing whistle, but she brushed that distraction aside. Giving her other half a shake, she demanded, "Would you just… Tell ME what was going on."

            "Huh? Oh, well, Fa Shen was trying to work out a way to reverse Akane's curse during breakfast, and she was going over it with me when Akane burst into the kitchen and booted her out the window. She figured out a couple of things that were the opposite of defiance, but we didn't know how someone could generate a 'compliant' or 'submissive' battle aura…" Otoko-Ranko began to summarize, as the ballistic screech peaked. Everyone jumped at the distant report of exploding rock and shouts of alarm from the terminus of Fa Shen steep, acute trajectory. "Oh shit," Otoko-Ranko blurted and raced off. 

            The others followed in his wake, soon arriving at the edge of the village where they found Fa Shen lying unconscious amidst the rubble of shattered boulders that had evidently broken the red-headed amazon's fall. As they shoved through the crowd that had gathered around the crash site, a number of amazon warriors seized Akane grimly. 

            "You not run away this time!" one of the warriors asserted fiercely. 

            "This gone far enough," another woman warrior agreed, nodding. 

            "Oh no," Onna-Ranko moaned in concert with Ranma and Otoko-Ranko. As headstrong as Akane usually was, none of them had really expected him to have learned from the previous day's misadventures. The problem had only gotten worse with Akane turning into a boy, but it had not occurred to them until now that Akane had forgotten how her male form increased her already inhuman strength. Even Fa Shen must have underestimated the power of Akane's blow, if she failed to properly compensate for the force of her landing. But really, the worst thing of all was the fact that it was FA SHEN laying unconscious before them. Where Ranma would hesitate, Fa Shen would have only two choices when she regained consciousness, and the "honor guard" that had seized Akane would force her to make it. 

            It was like watching a train wreck as Fa Shen's eyes fluttered and opened. She lay there restraining the groan that wanted to come out. There was a moment of confusion as she took in the watching crowd, and tried to determine how and why she had lost consciousness. The drain on her reserves, from reinforcing her body mightily with ki, and the jarred memory of rocky ground hurtling towards her suggested recent combat. Then her gaze focused on Akane. There was an audible gasp, and her eyes snapped shut for an instant in disbelief. 

            A flood of conflicting emotions stormed across her delicate features, as she tried to decide what to do. Sheer habit set her to motion, picking herself up and dusting herself off slowly while she studied Akane through narrow eyes. 

            Her mind ticked rapidly through all of the options facing her. Should she treat Akane as the outsider female she was in truth? Should she go along with the idea of Akane being a man at heart and accept her defeat, even if Akane's beatings were a bit too one sided to be called combat? Should she reveal her "marriage" to Shampoo in the hopes of dodging this mess? She shook her head, the elders would probably force her to honor both marriages, since an amazon and an outsider were both involved. 

            But, could she even hold on to being Fa Shen if she was married to Akane? If she reverted to being Ranma, permanently, could she cope with being Akane's WIFE? For that matter, could Akane even deal with being her HUSBAND? Was this, finally, sufficient justification to rebel against her tribe? 

            Fa Shen felt a shiver run through her and take up residence in her gut. Her mother had defied the tribe, but she had not been born an amazon. The part of her that was Ranma had been screaming for defiance of amazon law from the very beginning. Her siblings had tolerated their induction into the tribe in part because they had assimilated Fa Shen to a greater or lesser degree, but mostly for the sake of Fa Shen herself. 

            If she rebelled, they would back her up, and together they were powerful enough to cow the elders, even if they did not resort to using their circuit. Fa Shen paused for a heartbeat, thinking about the upheavals she and her siblings kept going through. She scowled deeply, fighting to contain the shakes resonating outward from her gut. They were more fragile right now than they realized, and they had weaknesses the elders could easily exploit. This was not the time for them to go to war with the elders. Was it worth it to resist something that she already had an obligation to do? Part of her, the part that was Ranma, was bound by the engagement to Akane. If Fa Shen cut her ties to the tribe, her only surviving ties to her past, would she even have a reason to remain Fa Shen? It would be pretty stupid to start a war over something that would most likely happen anyway if she burned those bridges. 

            During her deliberation, Fa Shen had schooled her features to mask her intentions and forced her oddly weakening limbs to maintain a pose of strength and confidence. She did not have anything to spare on regrets. The moment of truth was at hand, no matter how much she wished that Akane had listened and taken responsibility for his actions just for once. In spite of literally cursing himself, though, Akane had not gained the slightest emotional discipline. Would he remain true to form and lay the blame for this fiasco on her? It did not really matter. Fighting to maintain her poise, she stepped forward at last and reached up a hand to cup Akane's cheek. 

            There was a gasp as Fa Shen seemed to lean in to kiss Akane's cheek, but instead of a kiss of death, the amazon whispered something directly into Akane's ear. Akane stiffened, and his eyes flooded over with sudden tears that spilled over as Fa Shen pulled back, kissed him on the mouth, and proclaimed, "Wo de Airen." 

            There was instant celebration among the native witnesses, but Nodoka and her children stood silent as Akane and Fa Shen embraced in silence, the red-headed girl's body now visibly trembling. Fa Shen had buried her face in Akane's chest, and the neo-boy was just staring off into nowhere, shock and grief inexplicably stamped on his face as he numbly held onto her. He could not see or hear the people around them. He kept hearing the words Fa Shen had whispered, "Please do not fight this. If I had an option that allowed both of us to survive, I would have taken it." For once, Akane found it impossible to misinterpret what he had heard. He just did not want to believe it. 

Herb was initially quite put off when a contingent of his father's guard arrived with a command for him to meet with his father. They had arrived just as Herb was about to leave camp to visit the amazon village. It was just like his father to give new orders that contradicted and frustrated his standing orders to claim a Saotome triplet for a bride. It grated even worse that the new orders amounted to a fool's errand in Herb's mind. Of course, immediately upon arriving at the entrance to the cavern where he was instructed to deliver a change of clothes to Spice, his irritation turned into confused fascination. It had been something of a shock to find his father leading a naked young woman into the sunlight, particularly when at first glance Herb identified her as one of the Saotome women. A second glance revealed that she was a bit too tall to be Ranma, Ranko or Fa Shen, and yet too young to be their mother. His curiosity got the better of him as the girl slipped on the clothes he had brought. 

            "I assume she is the reason you called on me for such a menial task," Herb prompted, managing to vent his ire while leaving little room for retaliation. 

            Spice gave his son a dark, measuring look. In an imperious tone, he lectured, "I should not need to enlighten you to the honor I've allowed you, were you to consider your history lessons. Does the significance of this place, and the person I have roused here, truly escape you, my Son?"

            Herb took another look at the nyanniichuan victim, and narrowed his eyes. He certainly knew the legends of his people inside and out, and his father's reprisal had stripped away all possible doubt about who this woman was--or more importantly, what she was. Quickly putting together what had happened, he allowed himself an evil smile, while asking innocently, "I see. In order to find out if the mother of Ranma is your daughter, you decided to consult the nearest full-blooded dragon. Naturally, she needs appropriate attire to walk among humans. Which I am sure you realized before turning her human. So, seeing as you neglected to bring any with you… I trust you have been enjoying the view?"

            Spice blushed furiously, a mixture of fury and embarrassment at his son's baiting. It was small vengeance for the times Spice forced Herb to remain in female form to "give an old man's eyes something pleasant to linger on". His discomfort increased as the dragon leveled an eye on his back. 

            To prove the sharpness of her ears, she interrupted, "Though I suspect the same intent, knowing Musk men for the beasts they are, the truth is he left the clothes he brought for me in my nest, where they were ruined by the melting process." She threw a damp and shrunken garments at Herb to illustrate her point, catching the prince by surprise as they plastered themselves over his noble profile. 

            Peeling the clothes away from his face, Herb noted that they were reduced to a size suitable for a girl of maybe six or seven. 

            "I noticed you do not have shy eyes, youngling," the dragon accused Herb pointedly, smoothing her hands over the outfit she was now wearing, one of the prince's royal, white, silk outfits. It was an excellent fit, for her height, and certainly hung on her body better than it would on Herb's female form, but it remained quite obviously a masculine garment. 

            Herb smirked, "I assure you I am all too familiar with female anatomy." Between adjusting to his own alternate form, and the training he had undertaken to prepare for the conquest of Ranma--before learning about Fa Shen--he was now quite impervious to the sight of nude women, especially those cast in Fa Shen's image. "As it happens, I was simply surprised by the subtler differences in your form. If you were human, I'd guess you to be about nineteen."

            Cinnamon scowled in faint confusion. "So, you are quite used to ogling women's bodies?" she tried to interpret Herb's declarations. Before Herb could say a word, however, Spice splashed his son from the canteen he was drinking from. Cinnamon's eyebrows rose as she took in the appearance of the girl suddenly before her. "I… see. So, here we have it. Evidence of karma and the repetition of history all rolled in one. Extraordinary," she smiled. Then she shrugged it off, "No matter then. As I am sure you've learned, you cannot stop men from looking, since even the threat of death is sometimes not enough to keep them from actually touching." 

            "Prince, dragon or emperor, none are beyond the accursed springs' power to humble," Spice intoned, taking a serious air as he put his canteen away and gathered his pack. It did not escape him that the dragon's comment was a warning. The understated threat was actually reassuring, both as a confirmation of his initial suspicions and as an indication of her present disposition. Looking at Cinnamon, he asked, "Are you ready?"

            Cinnamon tilted her head, considering the story she had been told after her awakening, as she and the emperor awaited the arrival of his son. It seemed impossible that what he claimed could be true, even if the myths and legends surrounding the pools of sorrow spoke true--but if there was even a chance, it might mean the end of her self imposed exile. "I am more than ready. Take me to the others. I am eager to see if Fa Shen is truly resurrected," she declared. She fell into step behind Spice and Herb, as the dragon "princess" finished squeezing water out of her shirt, and the three of them made their way towards Herb's camp. There, they would pick up their entourage and proceed to the amazon village. Cinnamon tuned out the conversation between the father and female son and tried to soak in the world around her while sorting out her thoughts. 

            Being awakened had always been somewhat traumatic. Consciousness began returning to her even before the ice began to melt. The mere approach of Spice had been enough to draw her attention. The presence of any intruder would, but he had visited her tomb many times over the years. She had recognized him as distant kin, and tasted the familiar intentions as his mind contemplated awakening her. It had been a while since such a man had contemplated her conquest, and part of her had actually longed for the diversion. The temptation had drawn him to the threshold of her nest two or three times a century, but always he had resisted. She had begun to feel a kind of fondness for him because of his restraint. Strangely, as age finally began to make a mark on him, he abandoned his obsession. Herb was explanation enough for that. She might have guessed it from the last visit he made, prior to this awakening. Thought it seemed to take forever, the boy who had been her only contact with the world for several hundred years had finally become a man. 

            That was why it surprised her to feel him return. To feel the strength of his intention to wake her and realize he really meant it this time. Most importantly, she tasted something his predecessors had lacked, humility and respect. While no more inclined than ever to be a Musk bride, she did anticipate a most interesting dance would ensue. He would make a fine opponent, but he had surprised her yet again. Of course, he was surprised himself when he entered her lair to find her swimming in the heated water in her present form. As she climbed out of the underground lake carrying the kettle that had created it, he had stammered in disbelief. 

            "How can you be in this form, the Kaisuifuu…"

            "Can no more unlock a mastered curse than the Chisuiiton can lock one," she had replied sweetly. Taking in his shocked expression, she had laughed, lecturing teasingly, "Once mastered, a curse is effectively broken and the change becomes an innate ability--the form as true to the individual as the one they were born to. Surely you did not think a dragon could be locked in a cursed form and not inevitably master it?"

            "But, there is no record…"

            "There can be no record of a secret if it is properly kept. As for why I kept it a secret in the first place?" she anticipated his question and was rewarded by his eager look. Cinnamon smiled, "Put simply, it amused me to let the last man who tried to claim me believe he had some power over me. It makes the game much more interesting. As you have the wisdom to recognize I am not to be trifled with, I see no need to treat you like a fool."

            Spice stared at her a moment before blinking in confusion. It flustered him deeply to be spoken to in the tones of an equal--or even those of a superior in a favorable mood--by a woman. He had to force himself to remember that, appearances aside, this was a full-blooded dragon. "I beg your pardon," he schooled himself sternly, bowing. "I had prepared myself to see you in your full glory. I should have anticipated you would appear as you see fit."

            "As it happens, you ARE seeing me in my full glory, as this is hardly sufficient to conceal it," she quipped, kicking the pile of clothes she had fished out before his arrival. When he moved to offer her his cloak, she waved it off. "That is not necessary. I am not that fond of clothing anyway, so you might as well enjoy the view until it is necessary for me to dress."

            To her amusement, that actually seemed to embarrass him. 

            "You surprise me. You do not act like a man intent on conquest," she prodded. While this provoked him, the result was not what he expected. He quickly disavowed any intention of wooing her, explaining his real reasons for awakening her. In the process, he told the story of Kenshin Saotome and the tragic outcome of his bid for a mate, and the deception that concealed the existence of a potential daughter until now. "So, that is all you desire of me? To see this woman born of the Nyanniichuan?"

            "I need to know before my son claims one of her offspring for a wife," he clarified, filling in additional details about Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen. "So, after you, these are the best bridal candidates available to my son. It would be… awkward… to discover they might themselves already be my heirs."

            Cinnamon had listened to every detail, but the shock of hearing about the resurrection of Fa Shen left her brain virtually incapacitated. If there was a human who had made a greater impact on the dragon's life than Ergot, it could only be Fa Shen. The dragon had been obsessed with the girl even before being cursed in her image. At one point, driven almost insane by the bizarre fascination and attraction she held for Cinnamon, he--at the time--had gone so far as to try and eat her. Even now it bewildered Cinnamon. Fa Shen just had a- an irresistible taste. An arousing flavor that permeated the dragon every moment she wore the girl's form. As this quality lingered in her own curse, it had existed in the cursed girl Ergot had used as bait to capture and curse Cinnamon. 

            It was through Lo Shen that Cinnamon had first learned anything of the person Fa Shen had been, beginning with the fact of her demise. Cinnamon arranged for Lo Shen to pay the price for hi- her part in Fa Shen's death, but took full vengeance on Ergot for slaying the object of Cinnamon's obsession. Cinnamon had believed that her curse was all she could ever have of the girl that still haunted her desires. Ironically, her absolute embrace of her curse had proven the key to mastering it--the means to make the girl a part of her, for all she adhered to her true nature as a dragon. 

            But, Fa Shen's form had never given her an answer to the original question. What did she want from Fa Shen to begin with? Instinct said she wanted to merge with Fa Shen, but not even embracing the curse had not satisfied that desire. It had not been until she had fully adapted to her adopted humanity that she realized she had desired to mate with Fa Shen, in spite of the fact that she was a human girl and Cinnamon was in truth a male dragon. Of course, the realization came too late. When Pa Shen came to rescue her son-turned-daughter, Cinnamon realized she too sparked the same longing. Again, the realization was too late. Pa Shen quickly learned of Cinnamon's part in Lo Shen's fatal pregnancy, and nothing could sate the mother's enraged hatred. Cinnamon could not understand it, how Pa Shen could have loved the son that murdered her daughter and took her place. Only the fact that Cinnamon had acted solely to avenge Fa Shen seemed to have kept Pa Shen from killing Cinnamon when she had the chance. 

            So many mistakes in the past. It seemed inconceivable that the fates would give Cinnamon another chance. It was just too sudden. It was like a dream. If it was a dream, no doubt it would shatter right at the moment of truth. She might arrive in the village and suddenly things would twist sideways into some other string of events, if the walk to the village itself did not divert into some meandering abstraction of meaning and purpose. Thus, she kept her senses wide open, drinking in the rich textures of the world, clinging to their seeming reality, while agonizing over every interminable step. 

Ranko did not know what Fa Shen whispered to Akane before performing the kiss of marriage, but knowing what she knew now, it had not been hard to guess. Most of what she needed to know, to understand either of her twins, had been passed on to her through past unions. The experiences both of her reflections had just prior to assuming the identities of Ranma and Fa Shen had caused Ranko enough trouble second hand. After seeing what Ranma went through, coming to terms with the legacy of her date with Ryouga--well, in specific embracing her femininity and going all the way with the lost boy--it did not take Ranko much thought to understand that Fa Shen had been on the verge of shattering. It was the exact same problem Ranma had faced, for the same reasons. Deep in the pit of her stomach, Ranko recognized that it was her fault. Not entirely, since her parents and Cologne created the problem, but Ranko had instinctively found a solution, and selfishly claimed it entirely for her self. 

            The problem, of course, was thinking of Ranma and Fa Shen as two different people. It was made worse by the demand for a perfect version of Ranma, imposed by her parents, and the expectation of a perfect version of Fa Shen, presented by Cologne. With her reflections to either side seeming perfectly suited to fulfill those expectations, she had been cast aside--for the first time in her life completely free of constraints and obligations--to fend for herself. It even helped that she had no clue what to call herself or who she really was for a while. That let her take stock of all the things she could be and decide which parts suited her. The discovery of her past life as Fa Shen had been a godsend, though she recognized that identity was as great a threat to her autonomy as going back to being Ranma. Having the life of a boy suddenly balanced out by the life of a girl gave Ranko the ultimate freedom. It blew away any argument that she was "meant" to be one or the other--and she had seen at once that she needed to be a girl in order to become whole. 

            Ranko had found that really hard to explain to anyone, and it still seemed that everyone thought she had committed herself to being one-hundred-percent girl. No matter how often she stressed that she was both, people had it firmly in their heads that Ranko was a girl now and forever. But the truth was, emphasizing her girl side had simply been necessary to integrate her past life as Fa Shen, to blend all the parts into a new whole, and THAT was who Ranko was. 

            She knew it never would have been possible without the onus of actually BEING Ranma of Fa Shen lifted from her shoulders. As traumatic as it was to have the ki of Ranma and Fa Shen stripped away, leaving her on the verge of death, the thing that had really frightened her was hearing the designated Ranma suddenly assert that "he" was Fa Shen. She had panicked, fearing she would suddenly be thrust back into the role of Ranma, and unilaterally dumped the name and all the obligations on her other reflection. She had already been itching to lay claim to the identity of Ranko, and as far as she had known it had just been a name to her other reflection. She never imagined that Ranma, stuck as a girl, could ever come to terms with the fact so quickly. That was pretty stupid, since she was the same person and she had done the same thing--if for entirely different reasons. 

            As it happened, her sister-self had not particularly wanted to be Ranko. It just did not have the same meaning for her. Unfortunately, she did want something that "Ranma, the Man-Among-Men" was forbidden--and if she had not been forced to admit that, her love for Ryouga would have torn her apart. Ranko had no doubt of that, because Ranma's passion had almost taken full possession of her, even second-hand. She still felt it. Just like she felt the passion Fa Shen denied. Neither she, nor Fa Shen, had ever consummated, or even really expressed, the troubled and confused love they both experienced for Akane, as Ranma. That did not make it any less powerful. Where love for Ryouga had burst forth suddenly and unexpectedly, like the sun emerging through a tear in the angry clouds of a thunderstorm, love for Akane had approached stealthily from the abyss of night, bringing color to the whole horizon before swelling into a blinding brilliant orb, rising majestically into the vault of heaven. 

            It was funny, really. Ranma loved Akane, in spite of the fact that he did not want to. It was tragic, too. Ranko loved Akane, in spite of the fact that she gave up the right to. It was going to tear Fa Shen apart, because she did not love Akane at all--and because she owed her existence as Fa Shen to Ranma, the part of her that was still Ranma, sacrificing his own existence for the sake of a girl whose life was cut tragically short by murder. That was the horrible joke, the flaw Ranko never even imagined. It did not matter to Ranma that Fa Shen was the same person as him. He could not ignore a person in need, particularly not a girl, and absolutely not in the face of terrible injustice--his mandate as a martial artist forbade it. 

            His own nature forbade it.

            It was just so ironic. Ranko had gone too far to ever go back to being Ranma. It had nothing to do with not being man enough. She had just changed too much, too well. Even Ranma had changed too much to be Ranma, and not because she had embraced her womanhood. Ranma and Ranko had both lost everything and started over, each finding the things they needed to move on. Ranko, within herself, and Ranma in her relationship with Ryouga. 

            In addition to being granted all the rights, privileges and obligations of being Fa Shen, in spite of being miraculously resurrected, she also possessed everything that rightfully belonged to Ranma. The Ranma she evolved from was never forced to give up his identity, his inheritance, his manhood, or even his fiancées. For good or ill, he remained true to himself--even in ceasing to exist to bring an amazon girl back to life. Poor Fa Shen knew this. Just as she knew he still loved Akane, clueless as he was about how to express it, or confess it. Just as she knew he was incapable of assimilating her--the very notion would appall the Ranma locked away in her. 

            Which meant Fa Shen had no choice but to assimilate him--in the process destroying both of them, not knowing what would rise from the ashes. What choice did she have, now that she was married to Akane? In his own, perversely mule-headed way, Ranma would refuse to believe the marriage applied to him. As far as he was concerned, Akane was married to FA SHEN--however stupid the situation, and amazon law in general, seemed to be. As long as Fa Shen considered the arrangement binding, he would not resist. He might not even feel entitled to protest, especially if Akane did not--in spite of the fact that he would resist--had resisted--such a marriage, himself. 

            Ranko sighed heavily, her eyes still locked on the sight of her male half helping Akane escort Fa Shen back to the village. He struggled to keep the guilt and grief he felt off his face, but she could still tell he was thinking along the same lines she was, and the turmoil on Fa Shen's face was all the confirmation those thoughts needed. She was afraid. There was no missing that. She knew damn well, from seeing the result of Ranma and Ranko assimilating her, how far from herself she might end up after assimilating him. 

            Ranko let her attention drift to Akane, surprised to notice that she had reverted back to her normal self. Obviously, this turn of events had stirred up some powerful emotion that suitably countered her defiance, but Ranko could not, for the life of her, guess what it was. Naming it was not really that important anyway. Once experienced, Akane would now be able to revisit the moment and summon that emotion at will--with the correct training and discipline. From her aura, Ranko could tell it was actually an emotion somewhat characteristic of Akane. She had seen much the same aura around her when she was fighting for Shinnosuke's life. Concern or devotion, or maybe sheer, naked determination. 

            Before she could comment on the change, however, Ranko noticed there was a crowd massing at the gates to the village. Squinting her eyes, she tried to make out what the cause of this new commotion was. She really hoped people were not coming out to "congratulate" Akane and Fa Shen on their union. Neither of them was the least inclined to celebrate. 

            Suddenly, through a part in the crowd, she made out the distinctive features of Prince Herb, and a flash of his familiar robes and armor. "Shit. The Musk are back," she cursed under her breath. Racing ahead, she hoped she could distract them from the rest of her party, maybe lure him away before he overheard anything about Fa Shen's marriage. "This is so not happening!"


	11. Part Eleven

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Eleven

Upon his return to camp, while his father summoned the guard to prepare for their visit to the amazon village, Prince Herb was approached by the captain of his personal guard. Setting down the kettle he had used to restore himself to his proper form, Herb allowed himself a congratulatory smirk as he regarded the kneeling form of the man who had recently been the victim of amazon law. In hindsight, they both knew it had not been necessary for Kai Yuan to strike down the amazon Ai Xiadou during their confrontation outside of Jusenkyo. Still, it had proved a profitable misunderstanding. When she had jumped forward in shock at learning about the reincarnation of Fa Shen, the Musk captain had reacted instinctively to the perceived attack on his prince and knocked her unconscious. When she recovered and gave him the Kiss of Marriage, Herb had commanded the man to abide by the amazons' marriage law rather than be distracted from his pursuit of the Saotome offspring. Kai Yuan had accompanied his bride back to her village, and in this way Herb had gained a very reliable informant within the village itself. Combined with the intelligence Herb gained through the jilted master of hidden weapons, there was very little chance Fa Shen and her siblings would be able to spring any surprises on the Musk Prince. Gesturing to his soldier, Herb commanded, "Rise and report."

            Kai Yuan straightened gracefully to his full height. "My Lord Prince, I have unpleasant news to present to you." 

            Herb smothered a scowl. "I have heard much that displeases me of late. I assure you I will not hold you accountable if there is no direct failure on your part, Kai Yuan."

            The captain nodded faintly. "I have just learned from my wife this morning that one of the outlanders was not all she seemed. Apparently she has been revealed to be a man in disguise, and actively pursued those you seek to wed for his own bride. As I was finishing my breakfast, a woman visited my wife claiming that he defeated Fa Shen this morning and she gave him the Kiss of Marriage. As per your orders, I departed at once to come warn you of this development."

            Herb cursed softly under his breath. "I was led to believe that the one who turns into a pig and a woman was interested in Ranma."

            "I beg your pardon, my Lord Prince," Kai Yuan sweated nervously. "The one you speak of, who goes by the name, Ryouga, is not the one I refer to. I speak of the one called Akane Tendo." He then proceeded to relate the story one of his wife friends had relayed in his presence to her, with far less amusement and enthusiasm than she. 

            Herb tightened his fists. Mousse had mentioned Akane's tendency to lash out at her fiancé, Ranma, and how this habit had been viewed by the amazons. Herb foolishly took the blind boy's word that Akane's attentions were entirely fixated on Ranma, but obviously one mistaken blow was all that had been necessary to foil Herb's pursuit of Fa Shen. Pinching the bridge of his nose, to stave off a sudden headache, he prompted, "What of the other one, Ranko? I was led to believe that she had abandoned her claim to the pig."

            "My Lord Prince, if the rumors I have heard are correct, she was accidentally split in two, divided into male and female incarnations. I have not been able to confirm this, however, and that is all I have heard concerning her," the man declared with conviction. 

            Herb considered that and nodded. "It would be difficult for anyone to keep track of them from a distance. Unless there is anything else you need to report, that will be all," he dismissed the soldier. Kai Yuan bowed deeply and excused himself, leaving Herb to think about this latest problem. Clearly, time was a luxury he did not have any more. Seeing the guards forming up to leave the camp, he shouted for Mousse to be brought to him. 

            His retainers recognized his tone and made haste. 

            "You wished to see me, Prince Herb?" Mousse asked timidly, a short while later, straightening his robes and pushing his glasses up after being snatched from his tent and dragged swiftly before Herb by Lime and Mint. 

            Herb looked up and nodded. "That is correct. I have received news that Fa Shen has been joined to Akane in marriage this morning. As this satisfies your demand that a marriage between her and Shampoo be thwarted, our business is concluded." 

            Mousse blinked in surprise, though one could hardly tell through the thick lenses covering his eyes, then nodded in understanding. "Well. I never expected that, but I suppose you are correct."

            "Furthermore, I wished to apologize to you," Herb added with an evil smirk. The small hand gestures he made to his loyal retainers slipped past the stunned and oblivious Mousse. 

            "Apologize?" he asked in confusion. 

            "That is correct," Herb bowed slightly. At that gesture, Mousse was doused from behind by Lime by an all too familiar magic ladle. As the duck struggled to escape the collapsing bulk of suddenly engulfing robes, Mint's hand flashed out to seize him by the neck and thrust him into a small cage. Herb bent close as the duck quacked in angry indignation, and explained, "I remember the way you interfered in my plans in Japan, and I can no longer afford to be thwarted by your misguided and indecisive loyalties. I doubt you would make good on your threat to claim Ranko before I could, seeing that would be counter to your intention to wed Shampoo, but it is still a threat I can not ignore. Once I have secured my bride, I assure you that you will be released with no hard feelings." 

            With a curt gesture, he dismissed his retainers to arrange more secure restraints for the master of hidden weapons and marched in the direction of his father's pavilion, erected during Herb's absence that morning. 

            Spice was just emerging from his tent with Cinnamon when Herb confronted him. He delivered a brief summary of the report he had received and asked his father the most pertinent question he could think of. "Father, I am still under your orders to claim a Saotome bride, so tell me, will the outcome of Cinnamon's examination alter your command?"

            Spice regarded his son and frowned. He understood the question Herb was really asking. If Ranko was proven to be Herb's niece, did that necessarily exclude her as a bridal candidate? It was a necessary question. Spice had automatically rejected the thought of an incestuous union, but in point of fact, such were hardly uncommon in royal marriages. There had been pairings between individuals even more closely related in the past, in order to strengthen or preserve the imperial bloodline. The Musk had no qualms about culling the defective offspring of such inbreeding, in order to purify the line. Spice met his son's eyes and nodded. "I believe a half niece is suitable for our purposes. Issue your challenge, Son."

            Herb nodded sternly, keeping his reaction off his face. He had not lied to Ranko when he confessed that he did not relish the prospect of marrying her. But he had been equally honest about his loyalty to his father. At least Ranko was more of a woman than Ranma had been, and if the second rumor Kai Yuan reported was to be believed, she had even been stripped of the taint of manhood. Another note on the plus side, with Ranma and Fa Shen both married they would be forbidden to interfere in the marriage challenge, which meant Herb would not have to face the devastating power Ranko reportedly gained from her sibling's fornication. 

            Herb began formulating his battle plans as his party marched to the amazon village. First and foremost, he would be dealing with two opponents, since Ranko's male twin would not be barred from the fight. That would work to his advantage, since it gave Herb the opportunity to kill that twin and guarantee that Ranko would not be able to turn into a man again. Herb had not been told that Ranko had been split with salted twins' water, but that seemed the most likely method. Herb had known of it and considered using it to rid himself of his girl half, until his father threatened to marry his girl half off if he attempted it. Again, for the sake of the bloodline, Herb would never be allowed to simply dispose of his girl half when by herself she represented excellent breeding stock. It forced Herb to realize that he could easily find himself trapped in that body looking out at a cured version of himself. It was pure folly to ignore the true curse of the Chuanshontsuniichuan. 

            He still shuddered whenever he thought of it. 

            Herb had become lost in his plotting by the time their party arrived at the gates of the amazon village. The commotion caused by the appearance of an armed contingent of Musk warriors, their emperor, and prince, roused him from his distraction in time to look up and notice the red-headed girl racing toward them from the opposite branch of the road. 

As she approached, Onna-Ranko made a quick head-count of the Musk party. To her extreme displeasure, there seemed to be twice as many warriors as she had seen when she stumbled into Herb on the edge of Jusenkyo several days earlier. Cursing under her breath, she shifted her attention to the center of the group, where she confirmed her initial sighting of Herb, and noticed that he was accompanied by strangers instead of the familiar Lime and Mint. Both of them were garbed in the finery and armor she had come to associate with Musk royalty. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man bearing an obvious resemblance to Herb, whom Ranko guessed might be his father. The other could not be identified through the concealing folds of a hood and cloak. 

            The presence of the man gave Ranko pause. She remembered the story she had been told the day before, that it was possible that Herb's father was also Nodoka's father. It was possible, if this was him, that this visit had nothing to do with Herb's challenge to Fa Shen. Her confusion must have shown, because Herb turned to look right at her and smiled his superior, amused smile. Ranko slowed from a sprint to a jog as he pushed through the guards to intercept her at the gates. His movement distracted Ranko from taking a closer look at the cloaked figure striding along side of Herb's father. Ranko stopped a few meters in front of Herb, shifting into a defensive posture and challenged, "Herb! What are you doing here!?"

            Herb spread his arms out, hands empty, and responded, "Greetings, Saotome. I am here for two reasons. First, I am here with my father to determine the lineage of your mother. Second, I am here to change the status of my challenge…" He trailed off with a pointed look.

            "Oh? So, you're giving up on Fa Shen?" she lowered her arms from their guard position, relaxing her posture and giving him a suspicious look. 

            Herb smirked. "You could say that." 

            "Perhaps you would care to introduce yourself," Emperor Spice prompted stepping up beside Herb. The prince automatically deferred to his father, making a brief introduction and allowing him to take the initiative for the moment. 

            Ranko shifted her attention to the man who had sired the arrogant prince. The man who might be her real grandfather. At close range, she was engulfed by his powerful presence. Her eyes were captured by the sight of his thick mane of white hair, piercing amber eyes, and stern features. Through the folds of his imperial robes and armor, she could make out the body of a man in his prime, a strong, tall frame corded with powerful muscles. He had all the strengths of a young man, but he exuded the wisdom and experience of an amazon elder. A fight with him, she instantly decided, would be the challenge of a life-time. With those eyes boring into hers, it did not even occur to her to dissemble. "Ranko. Saotome Ranko. I was Ranma when Herb met me," she volunteered. 

            "So. You are the one who defeated my son and then saved his life. I have been waiting to meet you, Ranko." He gave her a slight nod and the ghost of a smile. "You are not exactly the cocky young man my son led me to expect."

            Ranko smirked brashly, "You mean the guy you were planning to force into marrying Herb? You maybe wanna explain that, Old Man?"

            "I am not in the habit of explaining myself to anyone, Child," Spice grinned, tightening his fists. The arrogance was so familiar. He was fighting to contain his reaction to the sight of her. Seeing Cinnamon should have prepared him for this meeting. "You are, without question, Kenshin's grandchild. However, it remains to be seen if you are also mine. I believe we shall address that question before we consider your impudence, Ranko. Cinnamon?" he prompted the hooded woman standing just behind and between himself and his son. 

            Cinnamon did not respond. She had been lost in her own thoughts as Herb moved to meet Ranko, and had absently followed Spice's lead when he joined the dragon prince. She had not even reacted to the sound of Ranko's voice as she challenged Herb, since the same voice had long become rooted in Cinnamon's mind as the sound of her own voice. It took her a moment to realize the words had not merely echoed in her head and look up from the depths of her cowl. Once her eyes fell upon the girl, Cinnamon's breath stopped. The face, the form, she had seen on so many in her long life. The spirit that animated it, however, had too long been absent from Cinnamon's world. Recognition had been instant. The dragon's ki senses unfurled and swept out to taste her, and were stunned to pick up several other presences that also could only be identified as Fa Shen. 

            "Cinnamon?" Ranko asked, tilting her head and trying to get a look at the woman the emperor had just addressed. "Say, who is this? Herb's big sister?" she asked, as she allowed herself a closer look at the clothing and cloak that obscured the stranger's identity. 

            "Tsin-Na Minh," the dragon corrected softly.

            Ranko's pony-tail stood straight up, and electricity slithered up her spine at the proper pronunciation of that name. It was a familiar reaction, though she had only experienced it first hand when someone uttered the word "cat". It was a primal reaction, one that surged out of the depths of her psyche like tsunami.

            Cinnamon lifted her head and pushed the cowl back, "But then, you wouldn't recognize me like this, would you, Fa Shen?" 

            "It'sa- it'sa- it'sa… You! Y-you're the…" Ranko babbled, pale as a sheet and practically gnawing on her fist as she fought to stand her ground. 

            "Dragon," Cinnamon smiled. "It's nice to see you remember my name. I was never sure you did, after… well. You were rather traumatized by what happened next." She fought not to laugh at the shudder that rattled Ranko, as she referred to her attempt to eat the amazon girl. She pushed forward through the gap between Herb and Spice. Ranko flinched, but the person approaching her did not inspire any of the terror evoked by her name. If anything, the sight of a slightly older version of herself was faintly fascinating. It was encouraging to think that resemblance meant she might grow as tall. Cinnamon paused at arms length, and scrutinized her carefully. "You're almost exactly the way I remember you. But," her thoughts began to catch up to her, reminding her of what she had overheard but tuned out, "you called yourself Ranko. You ARE Fa Shen, are you not?"

            Ranko gulped. Her brain had gone to work, and began to puzzle out exactly how Fa Shen's nemesis could be confronting her now, in her present form. The part of her that was Fa Shen was utterly bewildered by the notion of this particular entity being the only living tie to her past. The very idea was as bizarre as the possibility of her own resurrection. With most of her wits scattered, Ranko answered numbly, "It's… kinda complicated." 

            Cinnamon's attention was drawn to something behind Ranko, and she gave an odd start before returning her gaze to Ranko's face. "Indeed, it is," she quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, her senses had not deceived her, the dragon noted silently. 

            Ranko felt the approach of her siblings at the same time, as they raced up behind her and almost tripped in surprise when they took a good look at who their sister was speaking to. 

            "What the HECK is goin' on here?" Otoko-Ranko demanded. 

            "Hey, she looks kinda like Mom," Ranma chirped in surprise. 

            "How extraordinary. They're ALL Fa Shen!"

            "We did tell you there were three of them," Spice reminded the dragon, concealing his own surprise at seeing the three he had heard of, yet not seen until now. Knowing of their existence did not prepare him at all to confront them. 

            "Well, yes. You told me some strange stories, but," she waved her hands at the triplets and shrugged, "I didn't really believe it." As she studied them now, however, there was no denying that the three of them were the same person. Back in the days when Cinnamon was first cursed, as more and more Musk made their brides in the Nyanniichuan, it had been common to see crowds of girls identical to Fa Shen. The dragon had learned to distinguish individuals by their auras. The only substantial differences between the auras of the boy and two girls before her were transient fluctuations of mood. Even then, the auras would occasionally synchronize and resonate, leading her to believe the triplets must experience moments of telepathic rapport. The only thing Cinnamon knew of that would account for that phenomenon was the twinning waters of the Chuanshontsuniichuan. It was all the proof she needed to validate the abridged version of their story passed on to her through Herb and Spice.

            "Honestly, I had my own doubts until just now," Spice confessed, while giving the male member of the trinity a disconcerted look. Clearing his throat, he addressed the boy, "From my son's account of the duel at Jusenkyo, you are the one who has adopted the identity of Ranma." 

            "Uh…" the boy, who was of course Otoko-Ranko, fumbled. 

            Herb interrupted and pointed up the road that Ranko and the others had arrived down, "It appears there are more than three of them now." Everyone looked in the direction Herb was pointing and saw a third red-headed girl walking along sheltered in the arms of a raven-haired girl. "I believe that is Akane Tendo walking with her, and of course Nodoka following them. How extraordinary. You are like rabbits, every time I turn around there are more of you. How do you manage it, Saotome?" Herb gave Ranko a pointed look punctuated by a sarcastic, knowing smile. 

            "Er…" Onna-Ranko pulled at her pony-tail and tried to look away. 

            At this point, Ranma cleared her throat and raised her arm, as if she was in the middle of a classroom. "Uh, actually, I'm Ranma." She had an irresistible urge to add "sorry 'bout this" but managed to crush it before it slipped out. 

            "Sorry 'bout this," Otoko-Ranko blushed, then let out a yip of pain as Ranma kicked him in the shin and glared at him. 

            Cinnamon bent close to Otoko-Ranko, staring so hard it seemed like she was staring through him. She reached out and grabbed him by the head and started to turn it in her hands while staring into his eyes. When he was about to complain, she let go and stated, pointing from him to Onna-Ranko, "I think this one and that one are both Ranko. They're much more in synch." 

            "Chuanshontsuniichuan, this time?" Herb prodded Onna-Ranko. 

            "It was an accident," she growled, rolling her eyes and slipping away from him to latch on to her other half. 

            "Isn't that always the case with Jusenkyo?" Spice pointed out. Spice turned his attention to the last girl. As she was led into the crowd by Akane, he examined from head to toe while speaking, "I take it, then, that this must be Fa Shen?" Hearing her name, Fa Shen looked up in bewilderment and then looked over at Ranma. The look of uncertainty there spoke of more than confusion about who was addressing her. 

            Ranma stiffened for a moment, before a noticeable change passed through her. Her siblings instantly recognized the personality shift that was triggered by the emperor's question. "We are all Fa Shen," she corrected primly, then gestured to herself, "but most of what remains of the original Fa Shen survives in me." A pang of uncertainty ran through her as she said it. As far as the triplets knew, that was literally true. So why, she suddenly wondered, had all of her decisions recently been made from the perspective of being Ranma? A look of perplexity to match Fa Shen's came over Ranma's face. 

            They continued to look at one another, as if sharing a secret. 

            That was not too far from the truth, as their minds both raced down similar paths. In spite of having figured out the truth about the body-swapping that occurred during sex between "Ranma" and "Fa Shen", the triplets were only partially aware of the damage that had done to the mirror-born siblings. Both mirror twins had been branded with two personalities, and with each swap they had reinforced the duality of those perspectives. It would have been much worse if they had not become aware of their reflective split personalities, but the foundation for a complete mental schism had been laid in both of them. As long as "Ranma" and "Fa Shen" remained separate identities, as long as those identities were a reason for them to present themselves as different people, the mirror twins would remain in great danger. 

            Everyone else had noticed the way Ranma and Fa Shen had suddenly zoned out. Neither of them responded to any further remarks or questions from the Musk Emperor, nor did they react to the re-introduction of Cinnamon. While Otoko-Ranko had flinched and presented warding signs against the revelation of who and what Cinnamon was, Ranko had grabbed Ranma by the arm and attempted to snap her out of her trance. 

            "Hey, snap out of it!" Onna-Ranko snarled under her breath. "What's the matter with you?" She kept one eye focused on her mother, as she stepped forward to exchange greetings with Spice, whom she had met a couple of days earlier. Seeing that no one was paying her or Ranma any particular attention, she shook her twin gently. 

            Ranma blinked and focused on Ranko's face. "Sorry. I changed gears too fast. I got confused about who I was for a moment," she apologized. Shaking her head, she quickly reviewed under her breath, "For a moment I had the strongest feeling I was really supposed to be Fa Shen, that I'd done something really, dangerously, wrong by believing I was Ranma… Y'know, ever since that night…" Her body tensed. 

            "…I think I know what's going on. When I tell you, you're not going to like it, either. But we're gonna need some privacy first," Ranko mused, checking carefully to make sure no one was really listening to her.  Just then the village elders approached from within the gate to greet the visiting royalty. "Here's our chance," Ranko observed with a cunning grin. 

            Backed by every warrior in the village, the ruling council of elders took up position within the gates and announced their presence. The Musk contingent shifted their attention toward the shrunken women. Ranko grabbed Ranma and signaled her counterpart to follow. He nudged Akane and whispered something to her before grabbing Fa Shen and slipping her out of the crowd. Akane sped off in the opposite direction, heading into the village. The formalities of a meeting between the leadership of the two great tribes offered the perfect distraction for the teens to escape for privacy. 

            After fading out of the crowd and slipping into the woods bordering the main path, they waited for Akane to catch up to them, dragging Ryouga, Ukyo and Shampoo in her wake. As soon as they were certain no one else had followed, the group raced off toward the pools Ranma had introduced his siblings to the day before. Once they had determined that they no one was lurking in the area, they settled around the remains of last night's camp-fire and began to talk. 

            "What's going on?" Fa Shen asked, once she had oriented herself and collected her wits. 

            Akane finished dusting herself off and perched on a small boulder next to Fa Shen, protectively. "Was Herb here to challenge Fa Shen?"

            "Actually," Onna-Ranko replied, taking Akane question first, "Herb said something about giving up on her. I dunno, maybe he has to wait until they're sure about Mom being his sister. I don't know how they're gonna prove that, but from what I can tell that's what they brought Cinnamon here to do…" Beside her, Otoko-Ranko shuddered at the reminder of the shock he had received while Ranma and Fa Shen had zoned out after talking to the Musk Emperor. 

            "Cinnamon?" Ranma and Akane queried. 

            "Tsin-Na Minh!?" Fa Shen shouted, guessing the correct pronunciation of the stranger's name and thinking instantly of her nemesis. "Are you saying Herb and his father brought a DRAGON with them to the village!?" It did not even occur to Fa Shen to doubt that Tsin-Na Minh could still be around in the present day and age, nor that he might be an ally of the Musk. What shook her was the notion that she could have missed seeing him. 

            Onna-Ranko, becoming almost as pale as Fa Shen and Otoko-Ranko had suddenly become, nodded and swallowed hard. "I'm pretty sure that's who she is. She brought up some stuff from when I was you… er… well, you know what I mean."

            "She?" Fa Shen looked puzzled. 

            "She's been cursed. I mean, she looks like us. That is, if we were as old as Kasumi," Ranko clarified. 

            "That girl is a dragon?" Ranma frowned. She had been so preoccupied with her brief personality shift she had not really taken notice of the cursed young woman. Of course, if she had realized who was being introduced to her while she had been "Fa Shen" her reaction would probably have spelled disaster. "I'm surprised you didn't try and kill her, Ranko," she confessed, turning to the other girl. 

            "It's sorta funny, but in her cursed form she didn't feel all that threatening," Onna-Ranko explained with a shrug. Just the same, she understood the point of Ranma's question. While Fa Shen's fear of dragons did not result in something like the Neko-Ken, it did spur a powerful fight or flight response. Fa Shen might well have tried to kill Cinnamon on sight, if she recognized the dragon in human form, to take advantage of its vulnerability. "I've changed enough from Fa Shen that I wouldn't react like that. I'm used to suppressing the Neko-Ken. "

            Fa Shen shuddered once more. The memory of diving into the dragon's throat to escape from the deadly teeth that were snapping closed around her remained vivid and terrifying. That move had offered only a moment's reprieve, and the panic that gripped her as she slithered into the belly of the beast nearly paralyzed her long enough to seal her fate. Her aura had burst free in the tight confines, compressing into a wall of force that protected her from the crushing force of its rock-filled gizzard and the searing touch of its digestive juices. Even that was not enough to save her, as air was in limited supply. She called on reserves she did not even know she had to generate enough force to send her body rocketing back up the predator's esophagus. She had been fortunate that the pain and shock of this maneuver forced the dragon to open its jaws while triggering the fury of its fiery breath. 

            Fa Shen had been launched toward the horizon, trailing flames and glowing with furious chi, a living comet that hit the ground and kept running for dear life even though she was already drained nearly to the point of death. 

            So, no, it was not a mistake to believe she would slay the dragon instantly if she saw the opportunity, purely to guarantee she would never have to go through that horrific experience ever again. Then again, she felt mortified to admit to that level of sheer, animal terror. Clearing her throat, she opined, "Maybe as long as she doesn't look like a dragon, I won't freak out. I mean, she's got my body now, right? What could possibly be threatening about that?"

            Ryouga nervously reached out and patted her arm, "Believe me, I know where you're coming from. I've come close to being eaten too many times myself. I mean, really, I was so upset about that I seriously wanted to kill Ranma for giving me that curse!"

            "It was Pop's fault!" Ranma and both Rankos complained. 

            "But YOU knocked me off that cliff!" Ryouga snarled. 

            "I didn't even SEE you! I told you, Ryouga…"

            "Stop it! All of you!" Akane roared, jumping to her feat and leaning over them with her fists clenched. "When are you going to get over this!? I can't believe you'd start fighting about this after all that's happened!"

            "Jeez, Akane. Overreact much? This isn't fighting, it's more like foreplay with this group," Ukyo grumbled irritably. Turning to look at Fa Shen, she returned to the main question, "So, Herb's off your case, anyway. Pretty strange, considering I wouldn't have put it past him to try and marry you even if you turned out to be his own sister."

            Fa Shen snorted, "He is Musk. I'd be more likely to believe he learned about Akane clobbering me. I wouldn't put it past him to have found out about the Kiss of Marriage that quickly. Thanks to Jusenkyo, he could have all sorts of spies on us and we'd never know it! And, if that is the case, he'd probably follow through on his threat to challenge Ranko next."

            Onna-Ranko nodded glumly. "Now that you mention it, Herb was interrupted by his pop before I could get a straight answer outta him." She took a very deep breath and let it out slowly. "If that's the case, I'll deal with it when it comes up. Right now, though, I'm more worried about you guys," she declared, pushing her other concerns aside. "Ranma, Fa Shen… after yesterday, I'm kinda worried about what's goin' on with you."

            "Feh," Ranma waved it off, leaning her shoulder against Ryouga's. "There isn't anything to be worried about now. Mom's okay with me bein' with Ryouga. That's all that matters to me. Well, she IS makin' noises about makin' me be some kinda 'Woman-Among-Women' or somethin'. That's a little disturbing, but I think things are gonna get better from now on."

            Fa Shen added, with a rueful smile, "And, technically, the pact with the Tendo's has been honored. Our fathers will probably put on a big wedding with me as the groom to make everything legal in Japan. I don't see any way to avoid that now. I am sorry, Akane." 

            Akane flushed and looked down. "It's not your fault," she muttered through grinding teeth. "Between my temper and jumping to conclusions, there's no way to blame you. You did try to warn me, and you were only trying to help me out. I guess I'm the one who needs to be apologizing." It surprised her how little effort it took to admit all of that. She did not know if she was accepting this so calmly because Fa Shen was really a girl, or because she was also the Ranma she had made peace with the night of the double date. Looking up, she added, "If anything, I should be thanking you. You could have given me the Kiss of Death. I guess I'm pretty lucky I cursed myself after all. It's got the amazons really thinking I'm a man. I'd be pretty screwed if they realized the truth!" 

            Ukyo stood up and marched to the edge of the water. When she spoke, the others could tell she was close to losing control. "Well, that's just bleeding fantastic. It looks like everything is working out fine for everybody who matters. I'm sure you'll all be really happy in your new lives."

            "Ucchan…"

            "No! I'm sick of it!" Ukyo whipped around, glaring at everyone through a film of tears. "You never, ever, took me seriously. You've been stringing me along from the very beginning! You call me the cute fiancée, but you always have this excuse that you just can't see me as anything but a friend! Akane and Ryouga go and get themselves curses to go with yours and you just fall for it, but when I promise you I'd do the same for you, you tell me it's wrong! You tell me it won't make any difference in the way you feel about me, and that you 'don't want me to get hurt'!"

            "But, Ukyo…"

            "Shut UP!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get a clue, you jackasses! I AM getting HURT! What does it matter that I can't even claim to be a woman unless Ranma marries me!? What does it matter that I'm in love with you, Ranko!? What does it matter that I was understanding, supportive and patient in ways that Ryouga and Akane could NEVER be!?"

            No one dared to speak in the pause this time, as Ukyo heaved for breath. It was not just that they felt awkward and embarrassed by this display of outraged heart break. It was not even that they each felt guilty of every wrong that had been done to Ukyo. This explosion had been a long time coming, and there were no excuses anyone could make this time to pacify Ukyo. 

            "What do I have to do to get any kind of consideration, here!?" The tears finally began to spill over her cheeks. "What the hell is it that makes you so God DAMNED insensitive!?" The others continued to bite their tongues as she tried to rein back her tears. This just provoked her more. "WELL!? What the hell are you waiting for!? Answer me, GODDAMMIT!"

            Strangely enough, Shampoo chose then to speak up for the first time. "What you want Fa Shen, Ranma, Ranko say? You want answer, but answer is what you know in heart already. Answer Shampoo know in heart many days. Answer they no give you, 'cuz is answer you no going to like."

            Ukyo turned on Shampoo as if ready to pounce on the amazon and rip her throat out with her teeth, "I was not talking to you, you ignorant, air-headed twit!"

            Shampoo smirked at the insult, tempted to give her former rival the thorough beating she had longed to deliver since Ukyo had first become an obstacle in Shampoo's quest. Instead, she drove the point she had already aimed at Ukyo's heart home, "You too too stupid to not understand, they can no bring selves to tell you truth. That should tell you, truth really really going to hurt. Shampoo finally understand, she love more and more every day, but Ranma, Ranko, Fa Shen, they no love back. Maybe little. Like they love sister or friend."

            "Shampoo," Ranko reached out her hand to intervene, "please don't."

            "No. Is necessary, Ranko. Ukyo right, you always just leading her on. You not know how to say 'no'. Not know how to say 'go away'…"

            "I ALWAYS said 'no' and I can't tell you how many times I asked you all to just leave me alone!" Ranma suddenly interrupted, glaring. 

            "Look guys, this isn't even the right time," Ranko tried again. 

            "It's never time to deal with me, Ranko!" Ukyo accused her. 

            Finally, Ranko snapped. She stood up and shouted, "Enough! Can't you see I have more problems than I can handle right now!? Do you HAVE to butt in RIGHT NOW and make things WORSE?" The heat of an angry aura boiling off of Ranko was so unfamiliar, so disconcerting, that everyone fell into an open mouthed silence. "Do you think all this getting married off left and right is something I WANT to have happen!? Do you think I planned for Ranma and Ryouga to fuck!? Do you think I schemed to provoke Akane into knocking Fa Shen senseless!? Do you think I agree one tiny bit with the stupid amazon laws that say both of these marriages have taken place!?"

            "Wha…?" Ukyo blinked, feeling the edge of her anger blunted by confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? What makes those YOUR problems, Ranko?" 

            "The same thing that makes whatever happens to HIM," she pointed at her male half, "MY problem! THEY are ME! Do you have any idea what it feels like, being chopped up into a bunch of different pieces just so you can live up to all the things everyone else expects from you!? Here you are complaining about not getting your own piece of me, Ukyo! Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't already grabbed him and run away. I mean, there I am, one male type Ranko ready to go! Is that what you want, Ukyo!?"

            "Ran- Ran-chan! That's not fair…" she cried in a tiny voice. 

            "Of course it's not fair. Since when did anyone care about that!?" Ranko growled. "Do you think Prince Herb would see me, all girl the way he wants, and spare any time worrying about how unfair it would be knock me out, force me to marry him and drag me away from everything I care about forever? Or, do you think he will see how unfair it all is and focus his attention on how best to take advantage of it!?" Ranko marched forward and poked Ukyo in the chest, "Here's an idea, why don't you team up with him? That way you could split the spoils of war and both of you get what you want. Does that sound good to you?"

            "H- how DARE you compare me to HIM!?" Ukyo snapped back in outrage. She slapped Ranko's hand away and shouted back into her face, "I can't believe you think I am so cruel and selfish!"

            Ranko pretended to look shocked, "You mean, that wasn't you all those times, teaming up with Ryouga to break up me and Akane? You mean you haven't tried to exploit every opportunity you could to try and force me into choosing you, damn anyone else's honor?"

            Ukyo flinched back, speechless. 

            "I may have forgiven everyone for all the stupid crap they pulled, but did you really think I ever forgot?" Ranko demanded, finally allowing a trace of the hurt and frustration she still felt from all that constant abuse to show through. Sagging she tried to put a comforting hand out to her friend, "I know you love me, Ukyo. That really means something to me, and I really do love you back. Stop obsessing over 'how much' and 'what way'. Stop trying to back me into a corner and tie me up with commitments. I've had more of that than I can stand, and all any of that does is give me more reason to fight back. I've had it with people who care only about what I can do for them. I'm having a hard enough time taking care of myself."

            On the sidelines, Shampoo nodded and smiled to herself. She had been correct after all. Things had reached the point where the best thing she could have done to win the triplets' love was to step aside. It was kind of a pity the same lesson was spelled out for her rival, but then, if people started dropping out of the race now things would be much less interesting. 

            "Listen, Ukyo," Ranko relented, disturbed at the way the okonomiyaki chef was withdrawing and closing up on herself. "I never wanted any of this marriage crap to begin with. All it ever did was get in the way and cause problems. Right now, all I want to do is put an end to it all and try and sort out the mess my life has become. I can tell you, Ranma and Fa Shen don't want to be married right now any more than I do. I had hoped bein' amazons would get Cologne and Shampoo and Mousse off my back, but the stupid laws just make everything more complicated and I don't get any say in what happens. None of us do."

            "Forget it, Ranko. I just don't care anymore," Ukyo turned her back. 

            "No. I won't just forget it. And I'm not just going to accept it. That's the real reason I brought everyone out here," Ranko declared firmly, taking a solid, stubborn stance. A few eyes widened, and even Ukyo had to turn and look at her in curiosity. Ranko was staring off into the distance, and nodded to herself. "It's time I reminded everyone here why Ranko Saotome never loses. No matter how often you beat me down, I am NEVER defeated!"

            There was a pause, as Ryouga, Akane and Shampoo exchanged glances and Ranma, Fa Shen and Otoko-Ranko took on determined expressions. Shampoo slapped her fist into her palm and uttered in mild surprise, "Shampoo never think of that. Law say, if amazon womans 'defeated' by outsider… That not same as just 'beaten'. It good argument, is saying mans must try hump over womans spirit. " 

            "The word is 'triumph'," Fa Shen muttered to Shampoo. 

            "That what Shampoo say," she retorted primly. 

            Ukyo pushed aside her hurt feelings and frowned. "Isn't it a little late to debate terms, Ran-chan? How can you possible make this fly?" she demanded, feeling faintly hopeful in spite of herself. 

            "I'll figure out a way, somehow. I am NOT gonna let Herb have his way with me. I'd rather die," Ranko swore. 

            There was a moment where everyone stared at her in growing admiration, before Otoko-Ranko spoke up. "Uh, we do have one little problem."

            Onna-Ranko looked at him in irritation, "Now what?"

            "Well, if we stay split, we can't fight with ki techniques and if we merge back together the twins curse could get mixed in with a ki attack and make things even worse," he pointed out unhappily. 

            "Oh. Yeah. It would be bad if we split Herb in two. At the very least he'd double team me, and at worst, his girl half would try and kill me for 'stripping away' her guy half," Onna-Ranko cringed. She cursed under her breath. She tried to decide which she preferred, being stuck in her split state or facing both Prince and Princess Herb. She looked at her mirror-twins. "If I accept the consequences of the match, do you think it would matter if I had you guys stand in for me? I mean, technically you're both still me. I've seen both of you shift into my personality," she pointed out suggestively. 

            Fa Shen nodded to herself thoughtfully. "I don't see why not. The laws are kind of vague on this point. Read one way, Ranma and I would be barred from interfering, but you could argue just as easily that the specific body doesn't matter in our case. I mean, the only thing different between me and Ranko-kun here is that I'm trying to function as a different person and he's not. If I wanted, it would be easy to make it so no one could tell I wasn't you," she assured her twin, giving Ranma a look that said she was just as capable. 

            "Well, as long as you're at risk, I guess it'd be a good idea to trade places. We can do that now, in case Herb is waiting to fight you as soon as we get back," Ranma suggested, shifting from female to male form. He smiled, realizing that mastering their curses also gave Fa Shen and himself a hidden advantage, while guaranteeing that nothing Herb did could expose their ruse. 

            "It's important that we stay in the right personalities. I think Cinnamon is capable of reading us well enough to identify us by that alone," Ranko warned, reaching up to strip her top off and begin the identity swap. Predictably, Ryouga almost fainted, Akane almost brained her, and Shampoo and Ukyo looked on appreciatively as their favorite people in the world put on an impromptu strip tease. No one really commented on the fact that Ranko's declaration against submitting to the amazon marriage laws, by direct implication scheming to get Ranma and Fa Shen off the hook as well, eased the tensions that had sprung up in all of them and united them in the task of frustrating Herb. 

In the initial bustle of inter-tribal politics, the absence of the Saotome teens went unnoticed. That was partly forgivable, the intricacies of diplomacy took precedence over the interests and concerns of individuals. The formalities even obscured the stunned reaction Cinnamon had when Nodoka arrived in her children's wake, allowing the dragon to regain her composure and begin to contemplate exactly what she would say about Nodoka to Spice. She had been caught totally off guard by the flavor of Nodoka's presence, much as she had been by that of the "two-and-two-halves" triplets. Perhaps more so, since the claims that Spice had made had prepared her for the possibility of recognizing the resurrected Fa Shen. The last time she had been this surprised was when her crypt was visited unexpectedly about forty years ago. Admittedly, the visitor had been someone she had recognized instantly, having raised the girl as her own daughter once upon a time, and whom she had trained to communicate using her ki. A cautious and surreptitious examination of Nodoka revealed that her adopted daughter had failed in her stated mission. Ironically, that failure created an opportunity for a new beginning. 

            Cinnamon kept her optimism to herself, sorting through the few stories she had been told on the way to this meeting and working out unknown and undisclosed details to determine what truly happened two generations earlier. There was also time for her to consider what she would say, and to whom, regarding Nodoka's true identity and nature. Soon enough, the Musk party had been brought to the Council Hall and Nodoka was officially introduced to Cinnamon. 

            Once Nodoka was clear on the purpose for Cinnamon's visit, the dragon made a request, "The examination I must perform needs to be conducted in private, and given the factors involved, may take some time. Is there a secure structure, well shielded from psychic or spiritual emanations, where we may temporarily reside?"

            Cologne considered the request carefully. Clearly, the archival vault was the most ideal location, but there was no chance in hell a dragon allied with the Musk would ever be granted entrance there. The weapon's vault near her manor was also well shielded, and could be temporarily cleared of tools and weapons stored there for immediate need. "Such a place can be prepared for you in a short time," she announced, offering a brief description of the vault and its features. 

            "That will be sufficient. Once I begin, I would ask not to be interrupted and that this woman and I be attended only by her children. That should reduce the risk of aura contamination," Cinnamon nodded regally and turned her attention to Nodoka. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but you will need to purify yourself before we begin."

            "It is no inconvenience," Nodoka bowed, offering her serene smile. Around them the elders and observers were beginning to file out of the meeting hall. "I am as eager to know if there is a relation between us as Emperor Spice." 

            Cinnamon returned the bow and turned to the elder Po Shen, who had lingered with a look of suspicion on her shriveled face. "I can see you are curious why I insist on these precautions," she commented. 

            "Indeed. I would think it should be obvious to you at a glance if she is a dragon descendant. Don't you think that would be sufficient to establish a relationship between her and Spice?" Po Shen challenged a touch grumpily. 

            Cinnamon laughed softly, "Perhaps, if you believe the imperial line of the Musk to be the only humans descended from dragons. Also, there is the interference of the curse and its legacy to consider. She reeks of the essence of Fa Shen, making it almost impossible to detect any other influence." 

            Po Shen nodded hesitantly, "I suppose you are right. According to legend, it took generations for the offspring of cursed mothers to lose the imprint of Fa Shen. It makes me wish we knew what sort of creature Pa Shen was before the Musk cursed her." 

            Cinnamon smirked to herself. The Musk knew the answer to that question, and yet the amazons still remained ignorant. How amusing that the secret had been kept for so long. "One has to wonder why Pa Shen never chose to reveal the truth about her origins, no?" she taunted the tiny elder. 

            Po Shen shrugged, "It seems pretty obvious that she was a dragon of some kind. What else could have sufficed to found a new dynasty of Musk? Why else would a dragon prince like Ergot prefer her offspring over all other potential mates?"

            Cinnamon shrugged, "It seems so obvious."

            "Exactly," the elder nodded conclusively, before excusing herself. 

            Nodoka blinked, and seeing that the tribal master of the arcane was the last person to depart, she turned to Cinnamon and smiled, "I beg your pardon, but it seems to me you did not agree with the honored elder." 

            Cinnamon turned to look at Nodoka. "Oh?"

            Nodoka studied the dragon. She strongly reminded Nodoka of herself at the age she had Ranma, even down to the arched eyebrow and coy smile. In the dragon's case, she seemed only pregnant with mischief. "In fact, I would suspect you do not wonder about Pa Shen's origins at all. I think you know exactly what she was, and find it amusing that no one else does," Nodoka offered, growing bolder as the other woman's smile grew longer. 

            "I have all kinds of secrets, so there is no guessing at what amuses me. Still, I admire you for picking that up," Cinnamon deflected Nodoka's probes gently. Seeing the stubborn line of Nodoka's lips become set, the dragon woman laughed. "Should I take it, then, that you wish to know what Pa Shen was?"

            "Who is not curious about their own ancestry? How can one properly honor one's forebears if one is ignorant? This legend of Pa Shen, it is like discovering one is descended from the kami. However, as marvelous as that sounds, I can assure you there are kami I might prefer not to be descended from. It is all relative, you see," Nodoka pointed out imperiously. 

            Cinnamon laughed again, "Be at peace, Nodoka. I simply wished to confirm my suspicion that you have been kept in the dark about your heritage. You compare it to being descended from the kami, but it is clear you have no idea at all what you are speaking of. There is no shame in that. I was ignorant once myself. Let me tell you how I was cured of my ignorance."

            Nodoka inclined her head in an informal bow of appreciation.

            Cinnamon smiled and directed Nodoka to a bench where they settled facing each other. Catching Nodoka's eyes with her own, the dragon called upon her heritage to project her voice directly into the matron's mind, ensuring no one could eavesdrop on what she was about to reveal. "This story begins a couple of years after I was cursed in the image of Fa Shen," she began, laughing aloud as Nodoka gave a start at hearing these words in her head. 

            "In spite of being an intelligent being, it took me about that long to adapt to being human, during which time I had but one real companion. On the day I speak of, I learned the truth about Lo Shen, along with the fate and identity of Fa Shen. I had assumed, since I had yet to learn the true workings of Jusenkyo, that Lo Shen was the same girl with whom I had been fascinated in my natural form. For this reason, even though she had been the bait with which I had been trapped in human form, I took some pleasure in her company and my new resemblance to her. Because she too seemed to be a captive to the men who sought to conquer us, we were allies from the very start. She was the one who taught me to communicate in human speech and advised me in the ways of the Musk. Lo Shen was my first, and at the time only, friend. Both of us were imprisoned in, what I can now perceive as, palatial splendor. Our personal nemesis was Prince Ergot. It was through the prince's attempts to conquer us that I came to understand my attraction to Fa Shen, to understand that my obsession was driven by a desire to mate with her--because Ergot was driven in the same way."

            "Mate with her? But surely…" Nodoka blushed, trying to imagine something so absurd as a dragon lusting after a human woman.

            Cinnamon blushed too. "It sounds strange from a human perspective, but among dragons attractiveness is more of a spiritual and mental quality than a physical one. I assure you, I am neither the first nor the last dragon to become infatuated with a maiden. Alas, the confusion this attraction causes is responsible for certain dragons developing a taste for woman-flesh."

            "Oh dear," Nodoka stared wide eyed, suddenly recalling the trend in dragon legends to that effect. 

            Cinnamon shrugged and returned to her tale, "Our stubborn resistance had finally provoked Ergot into a rage, in which he ranted at length about the frustrations he had endured in his pursuit of Fa Shen." Cinnamon frowned uncomfortably, looking away to conceal a flash of pain. "It was an unpleasant history, which I see no need to repeat here. All that matters is that Lo Shen was revealed to me as the brother of Fa Shen. I had witnessed several of his battles with his sister in the past, when I noted that he too had a mesmerizing, attractive quality. This magnetism, whatever it was, was not as strong in the boy as it had been in the girl, so I had never pursued him. I should have known it was as possible for that boy to be transformed into the girl I had befriended as it was for me to have been similarly transfigured. In fact, Lo Shen had been the one who tried to explain my transformation to me, but my grasp of the language was insufficient to comprehend the concept of a nyanniichuan curse that was locked by the chisuiiton. 

            "On that day, it hit me like a lightning bolt. 

            "I instantly understood that Lo Shen was cursed as I was, and I felt deceived, betrayed, even though my ignorance and misunderstanding was to blame. I also felt alarm. Afraid of the answer I would receive, I interrupted them to ask about the origin of our curses--more specifically, I asked about Fa Shen's fate. Ergot took perverse pleasure in describing her death to me, and the plot that had led to my capture. I hated Ergot already, but I was not prepared to learn of my 'friend's' role in this tragedy. I vowed to kill Ergot, and I promised Lo Shen that I would punish her for assisting in "his" sister's murder." 

            Cinnamon paused here for some time, sorting out her thoughts. 

            "It took me some time to design and execute my revenge," she picked up, prompted to resume her tale when Nodoka shifted in her seat. Once again, she elected to skip over the gory details. "Ergot I simply killed. When the opportunity presented itself, I slaughtered him as coldly and cruelly as he murdered Fa Shen. Lo Shen, however, was still the closest thing I had to a friend. At times, I thought the betrayal she had suffered at Ergot's hands was sufficient punishment for the betrayal of Fa Shen. Karmic justice. Ultimately, I could not forgive the whole of the story. Fa Shen's death was the last betrayal, but Lo Shen had tried endlessly to deliver her into Ergot's bed. I decided Lo Shen should suffer the fate he had intended for Fa Shen. It was ridiculously easy to accomplish. I seduced a man and brought him to a room where I had left Lo Shen drugged and naked in bed." 

            Nodoka tried to conceal her reaction. Even knowing the justification for this punishment, and recognizing the poetry irony that shaped it, it also touched on her deepest fear concerning her children and their cursed condition. 

            "You must think it too cruel, that I would do such a thing to my only friend, in spite of her crimes," Cinnamon gazed steadily into Nodoka's eyes. 

            Nodoka shook her head, wincing, "It is not my place to judge. Honor often demands far greater sacrifice than an eye for an eye. Only Fa Shen can say if you went too far to avenge her honor and death."

            Cinnamon nodded slowly, "It still is disconcerting to realize I actually could ask her." Dismissing that, she shrugged and pointed out, "I did not intend for Lo Shen to become pregnant, however and neither of us was properly prepared to deal with childbirth. The women of the Musk refused to aid or attend Lo Shen, because of her past. Their indifference and our ignorance killed her. She exhausted herself in labor and she begged me to split her open if that was what it took to save the baby." Again, the memories of the past filled her with agony, forcing her to fall silent. Nodoka waited patiently as she regained her composure and continued. "I considered her death a punishment for my own arrogance, and truly I had damned myself. You see, Pa Shen had taken advantage of the fact that a whole generation of Musk brides were created in her daughter's image to infiltrate the stronghold and free Lo Shen. If she had been just a day earlier, she might have saved Lo Shen's life. Instead she arrived after Lo Shen's father had taken her child and left the Musk, leaving me to attend to her remains. 

            "Pa Shen begged me to tell her everything I could about her son-turned-daughter. In exchange, I had her tell me about Fa Shen. We mourned together, but I foolishly confessed what I had done to Lo Shen, and she became enraged. She accused me of being just like every other dragon, and we fought. Or rather, I tried to defend myself from her wrath, and I think I only survived that night because Pa Shen could not bring herself to kill someone who wore her daughter's face. 

            "Pa Shen left as suddenly as she arrived. After licking my wounds, I returned to light the pyre that she and I had built for Lo Shen as we mourned together, wondering about Pa Shen's accusation. She had disparaged me for being a dragon in the way I had heard numerous women disparage men. I reflected on how the mother had struck me as possessing that same, incredible attractiveness as her children--yet which Ergot never had. If anything, Ergot had been somewhat repulsive. Even if I had loved him, it would have been difficult to embrace him with any sort of passion or trust. I imagine sex would have been incredible with him, but that kind of arousal paled in comparison to my reaction to Pa Shen and her offspring. It was like they were a drug, an aphrodisiac. 

            "I stared into the flames of my friend's cremation, straining my brain for an answer to the mystery. I found it as I sifted through the ashes the next morning." Yet again, there was a long pause as Cinnamon stared into Nodoka's eyes, searching for the glimmer of understanding. It took a moment, but Nodoka eventually tilted her head in faint suspicion and prompted her to explain what she was implying.

            Cinnamon took a deep breath, though this mattered little in the projection of her mental voice, and smiled conspiratorially. "I mistook it for a large, smooth stone at first. Then it wobbled, and I all but hit myself over the head. I was a dragon once, after all. You would think I would recognize an egg instantly," she laughed aloud as Nodoka's eyes widened wonderingly. "I blame grief for my addled brains, because the next thing I did was wonder aloud what sort of creature lays its eggs in a fire. So, you can imagine my surprise when the shell cracked at my touch and revealed a baby girl." 

            "You can't possible be serious!" Nodoka finally cracked.

            "I am perfectly serious, Nodoka," Cinnamon smirked, her expression changing to something a bit more motherly as she sighed, "That infant girl born from the ashes of my friend's death was the shock of my life. The answer to a question I barely knew to ask. I adopted her on the spot, naming her for my departed friend, and raised her as my daughter."

            "You mean that this little girl was actually Lo Shen," Nodoka pressed.

            "Because her mother, or his mother, if you want to be specific, was originally a phoenix. Yes," Cinnamon finally spelled it out. "I did not reveal the truth to anyone else, however. Lo Shen's father had taken her son away, back to the mountain where Pa Shen had been captured in the wild. There was no reason for anyone to think I had not been pregnant myself. Neither I, nor my 'daughter' were of much interest to anyone important. No one was crazy enough to disturb me after Ergot's death. At least not immediately. When my daughter came of age to attract the attention of Musk men, I liberated the kaisuifuu to unlock the curse she inherited and we fled from the Musk. When she left to track down her real mother, Pa Shen, I thought I would never see her again. The closest I ever came was when she returned forty years ago to ask my advice."

            Nodoka nodded, in the manner of one listening while thinking things over. Then she started and stared at Cinnamon. "No. Forty years ago! You can't mean…"

            "That Kenshin was not lying when she identified herself as Lo Shen," Cinnamon nodded. "Spice told me the story. It took me a while to realize he was talking about my adopted daughter. I had been wondering how I could have missed the presence of this Kenshin, since I'd been roused near the same time by Lo Shen."

            "My word," Nodoka put a hand to her throat and swallowed her surprise. 


	12. Part Twelve

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Mini-Sequel

A. V. Morgan

Part Twelve

Prince Herb was brooding at the high point of the village, his ki senses spread wide, debating whether or not to wait for Ranko and her siblings to return from the woods. Once he had realized they had disappeared, he had slipped away from the Council Hall to search for them. According to legends, Fa Shen had a unique, compelling presence to those of dragon blood, and this seemed a good a time as any to test that theory. In point of fact, once he opened his mind to spiritual perception, he had discovered a half dozen signatures immediately called to him. Two were there in the village, and easily eliminated as those of Cinnamon--in whom the siren song seemed the most diluted--and Nodoka. The remaining four were grouped together in the forest outside the village walls. Herb concluded instantly that this indicated a strategic retreat, and that the four must be conspiring together in anticipation of Herb's next move. Given their past history with Herb, it was hardly surprising that they were suspicious of him, but the question to ponder was how accurate their apprehensions were. 

            Herb fiddled with the long handled ladle in his hands. He had grabbed the Chisuiiton from his retainers by habit, when they moved to subdue Mousse, and slipped it into his robes. It had served no purpose in his original plans to conquer Fa Shen or Ranko, since each in her own way was immune to the threat it represented. In fact, the teens had unwittingly betrayed the fact that one of them, at least, had mastered their curse. Herb easily accepted the possibility that both Ranma and Fa Shen had managed this. That made them doubly impervious to the magic ladle. In Ranko's case, the magic of the Chisuiiton and the Kaisuifuu had somehow been imprinted on her hot-water nanniichuan curse, and testing had proven she could override either. 

            However, Herb had come to realize, that advantage would have been disabled by the splitting of that curse. He had realized this while pondering the question of whether Ranko was split on a temporary basis by an instant curse or if she now possessed a stacked curse. The solution to either problem, as he saw it, was to ensure she was not capable of reversing the curse. Just like that, one of his most useful weapons had been returned to his arsenal. All he needed to do was determine the best way to employ it against her. 

            As a weapon, the ladle had certain limitations, especially when the intended target was one of four identical individuals. The best plan called for hitting them all at once, and that meant some kind of ambush. In a fair fight, there was too high a risk of one of them getting their hands on the ladle and turning its power against Herb. Fortunately, the locking power was not in the ladle itself, but in the water it enchanted. 

            Herb carefully returned the bucket to the folds of his robe and slipped the ladle up his sleeve. The bucket was just a way to keep water ready for immediate use. Any body of water would serve as an extension of his weapon. He gathered his ki and lifted himself up into the air. As the dragon flies, it would only take him a few moments to close the distance between himself and the Saotomes. He knew the woods his quarry hid in held a tributary of the Yellow River. All he needed to do was pick a spot along its course to plant the ladle. The water flowing past it would become enchanted, and anyone who crossed through the water downstream would be locked without even knowing it. 

            The trap was easily laid. A quick reconnaissance from the air showed that his targets were gathered beside a large pool. It was perfect for his plan. All he needed to do was plant the ladle and drive the group into the water. Putting thought to action, he made a deft toss and wedged the ladle into lip of the waterfall that fed the pool. It would take less than a minute for the entire pool to be tainted by the magic. 

            The sound of the ladle being shot into the water and rock caught the attention of the group. Ranma, both Rankos and Fa Shen's eyes were instantly turned upward to where the throw had come from, as they sprung into a defensive ring to confront whatever threatened. 

            "Ah, good! I have your attention," Herb announced loudly, swooping down to land on a boulder between the group of martial artists and the pool. "It was rather rude of you to ditch the formalities like that. I did not even have a chance to finish answering your question, Ranko." Naturally, he addressed his remark to the red-head in Ranko's clothes.

            "Herb. You have no business accusing other people of rudeness," the other red-headed girl accused. If Herb had arrived just a little earlier, he would have caught the teens in the middle of swapping clothes and identities. Unaware of the deception, Herb did not recognize Onna-Ranko in the clothing Fa Shen had been wearing during the encounter at the gates of the village. 

            "Are you here to fight?" demanded the boy dressed as Ranma. 

            "If you like, Saotome. Now that there are four of you, I suppose the odds are finally even. But, maybe we should set some terms first?" Herb smiled. 

            "We know what you're after Herb," Fa Shen, in Onna-Ranko's garb, sneered, moving up beside Ranma--to Herb's eyes, Otoko-Ranko. "Just save yourself the trouble, 'cuz yer not gonna get it!" 

            Herb smiled and spread his arms. "Is this where you try and tell me Fa Shen is already married?" When the group of them narrowed their eyes and held their tongues, he laughed, "I see you are not surprised I know of that. That would mean you were out here plotting a response to my challenge to Ranko, correct?" 

            "It's not like you didn't explain yourself from the beginning," "Ranko" griped, flashing a quick signal to the others. They began to spread out to flank Herb as she warmed up her taunt, "I'm surprised you rushed right out here. I would have expected you to make a formal challenge so you could have the whole tribe as witnesses for the fight. Unless you were planning to cheat." 

            "Cheating is an accusation reserved for losers, Ranko. You should be ashamed," Herb taunted. "I am only here to see to it that you answer my challenge. You see, I've noticed you sometimes need some motivation to fight. I have a little present for you, something to raise the stakes."

            The level of suspicion and anxiety in the Nerimans surged palpably. During the exchange of words, Herb had taken measure of everyone present, and put together the final ingredients of his trap. The two weakest fighters in the group had shifted predictably to the edges, coming in along the bank of the pool to flank his position. Herb had taken advantage of Mousse's "defection" to study up on the Nerimans, and through his own experience he could predict what would happen next. Herb launched himself straight up, shouting, "What do you say we move the non-combatants out of the way first?"

            The Saotome teens took this as the opening move of combat, charging forward, leaping straight at Herb, to deliver devastating kicks or punches. The ki attack Herb had pulled his hands in to charge was split and thrown off to either side, reflecting off of random boulders to home in on Ukyo and Akane with deadly accuracy. Both of them leapt up to escape, as the two ki missiles struck where they had each been standing, and the concussion of each impact shot both of them into the depths of the pool. 

            Ukyo's giant spatula was torn out of her hands in the blast and tumbled artfully end over end through the air. Water exploded in the double-tap of impact and displacement around Akane and Ukyo's bodies. 

            Herb whipped his arm in to meet the attacks of the four Saotome's where they converged, catching the highest limb and levering it down to block the others' attacks. Herb catapulted himself over the quartet, transferring the force of his maneuver and their attacks to send them all off balance into the pool themselves. The clang of the baker's peel hitting the rocks mixed in with the second crash of bodies into water. Shampoo and Ryouga were both right there to meet him as he sailed past the red heads. The lost boy closed and delivered four massive body blows and an uppercut as Shampoo whirled in from his other side with her bonbori to cut Herb's legs out from under him and catch him head-wise as he rebounded from Ryouga's final blow. 

            Herb managed to twirl through the series of blows, a beautifully aerobatic "rolling-with-the-punches", and come to a decent landing on his feet, at which point he caught Ryouga's eyes and commented, "I think your friend is drowning, pig-boy."

            Ryouga's eyes widened as his head snapped around to spot Akane thrashing in the water before sinking in a burble of outrage. Ryouga dove for the water without a hint of hesitation, and Herb turned to meet the second wave of red-headed assault. He jumped back to perch on another boulder and held up a warding hand. "This fight is over. You've already lost," he announced as they slowed and glared at him menacingly. 

            "What the hell are you talkin' about! This fight hasn't even begun!" all four Saotome teens declared hotly.

            "Bit off more than you could chew, Herb!?" Ukyo taunted from the edge of the pool where she had paused to flip her drenched hair back over her shoulder while climbing out. Shampoo was gliding toward her, scooping up the giant spatula with a foot and slinging it in the chef's direction.

            "Like you could ever win!" Akane choked out between coughs as Onna-Ryouga helped her to the edge of the pool. 

            "That depends on how you look at it," Herb replied cryptically. 

            "How you-? I'll tell you what it looks like! It looks like you're backin' outta the fight! What kinda game are you playin' here?" "Ranma" demanded a bit petulantly. 

            "This was no game. Just a prelude to the real fight. Don't worry. You'll see soon enough," With that, Herb turned on his heel and departed. The others exchanged confused looks as he made his way up stream, ascending the near shoulder the water fall, and snagging a long, thin branch while negotiating past a tree. Ranko, currently wringing out the clothes she had borrowed from Fa Shen, stared after him in suspicion. The whole confrontation had felt wrong to her. He had been up to something, but she had no clue what. Perhaps because the necessary clue was not revealed until Herb used the long branch to fish something out of the rocks at the lip of the water fall. 

            "What is he doing?" Otoko-Ranko asked her. 

            "I'm not sure," Onna-Ranko shrugged, narrowing her eyes. "It looks like he found a spoo-" Ranko went completely rigid before she finished her thought. It had hit her exactly what the object looked like. A tiny growl surged up her throat as she suddenly launched herself in Herb's direction, and grew into a shout, "What have you done, YOU BASTARD!!!?"

            Herb turned to look back, waved the ladle of the Chisuiiton languidly over his head, and then vanished in a peal of laughter. 

Cinnamon and Nodoka had been interrupted by Cologne's return before Nodoka was able to fully recover from the revelation that her father was in fact Lo Shen, the son--or daughter--of Pa Shen. The staggering question of how it was possible for that person to have returned after roughly fifteen-hundred years to be identified as such by Cinnamon had to be bottled up while the amazon matriarch announced that the facilities requested by Cinnamon had been prepared. It was all Nodoka could do to maintain her composure as the two of them were led to the weapon's vault next to the manor so that Cinnamon could examine it to her satisfaction. It was even harder holding her tongue while undergoing the purification Cinnamon also required before the two of them entered and sealed themselves into the vault. 

            "Well, I think it's safe to resume where we left off," Cinnamon announced, brushing off her hands and stepping away from the door to look at Nodoka in amusement. 

            "How can it be possible?" Nodoka finally demanded. 

            "I assume you want to know how it could be Lo Shen, after all that time?" Cinnamon asked, moving deeper into the vault to find something to perch on. As Nodoka nodded eagerly, the dragon paused and knelt down to look at a pair of casks that had been left behind when the weapons and artifacts were cleared out. She held out a hand and focused a brilliant ball of ki to illuminate the handwritten labels on the casks. "Hmmm. How interesting. I wouldn't expect to find something like this in an amazon vault."

            "What is it?" Nodoka asked, faintly irritated by the distraction. 

            "It appears to be water from the Nanniichuan," Cinnamon pointed out, holding her hand so that it shed light for Nodoka to read by. 

            "Oh, that," Nodoka laughed dismissively. "Those are my children's. One is for my worthless husband to cure his curse, and the other is a gift for Ukyo Kuonji. I confess, I do not particularly wish either of them to get their hands on that stuff. Just having it around is too dangerous. I don't know how we will get them to Japan without causing some disaster."

            "I see." Cinnamon blinked in thought. "Am I correct that this Ukyo is a girl? Why would she want a curse that would turn her into a man?"

            "It's sort of complicated," Nodoka winced. Cinnamon gave her an insistent look, so Nodoka composed herself and told the shameful tale. "My husband made an arrangement with her father to engage her to Ranma, never intending to honor it. As a result, he abandoned her after stealing her dowry, which led her to forsake her womanhood. She was raised as a boy, training to take revenge on my husband and son, except, when she discovered my son had believed Ukyo was a boy all along and knew nothing of the engagement, she seems to have fallen in love with him. She decided to pursue the original engagement, hoping this would allow her to regain her womanhood. Unfortunately, with my so… well the curses all three of my children have, Ukyo believes a curse of her own is necessary for them to chose her, and if they did not chose her, her honor requires her to live out her life as a man."

            "Really? I had forgotten how over dramatic the young could be," Cinnamon laughed, sitting back resting against a crate. She studied the casks in silence for a moment, while returning to Nodoka's inquiry. "The question of Lo Shen's longevity is really answered by her heritage. Ironically, if something Pa Shen confided to me about her daughter, Fa Shen, is correct, part of the answer lies in her curse."

            "Her curse?" Nodoka blinked in confusion, finding a stool behind the casks and perching on it. 

            "Yes. Pa Shen told me that her daughter would still have been alive if she had obeyed her mother and accepted a Nanniichuan curse. I found that an odd assertion, and asked how that would have helped her survive drowning. Pa Shen said a sex changing curse would have allowed her daughter to tap into her full creative potential and harness the abilities she should have inherited from Pa Shen."

            "Creative potential?"

            "Well, I didn't understand what she was saying at the time. I thought it was just the ramblings of grief. In fact, seeing that her son had died, despite having the kind of curse she proscribed, she seemed to be demoralized. It must have made her doubt her assumptions," Cinnamon pointed out. "Obviously, it turned out that Pa Shen was right, and when I realized what Pa Shen had been, I understood why."

            "Go on. I have no idea where you are going with this."

            "Well, phoenixes are, well, asexual. Or is that androgynous?" Cinnamon turned up a puzzled look then shrugged. "Anyway, they're kind of like plants. They can conceive sexually, to perpetuate the species, or asexually--to allow an individual to be reborn parthenogenically. 

            "I have to guess that being limited to one sex created some kind of obstruction of the potential Fa Shen and Lo Shen inherited from their mother. That obstacle was removed for Lo Shen when sh- he was cursed. Even then, Lo Shen did not know about the potential, so I guess it had to be jump started when she died. The funeral pyre did that. When I cremated Lo Shen, I awakened her phoenix potential, allowing for her powers to resurrect her. After that, well, I'd guess Lo Shen would be practically immortal."

            "Immortal!?" Nodoka could not believe it. 

            "Well, you have to look at the powers of a phoenix. They are creatures of fire, so you have to look past that right off. The whole fire theme fits in with how the powers of a phoenix work or express themselves. The powers themselves are things like regeneration, rejuvenation, resurrection, reincarnation--there's that whole big theme of rebirth," Cinnamon summarized cheerfully. "I can't say if Lo Shen lived straight through those fifteen-hundred years. Only that death would be just a minor setback."

            "Minor setback… That's quite an understatement," Nodoka breathed. 

            "Yes. I guess this is kind of overwhelming. You have to have realized that this all impacts you as much as your children," Cinnamon empathized. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I did not have a lot of time to talk to Pa Shen--or Lo Shen when she returned to ask me for some help. I had too much time to think about the things they did tell me or that I witnessed, though, and figure out what all of it meant."

            "Do you mean, you guessed at what you are telling me?"

            "There is some guess work, but it's informed guessing. I know for a fact that Pa Shen was a phoenix. Nothing else can explain what happened to Lo Shen, and I later confirmed the truth in the archives of the Musk." Cinnamon fixed Nodoka with a sharp searching look. "I do not need to guess at all to tell you what Lo Shen risked coming back to the Musk for."

            "I thought my father came in search of a cure for his curse."

            "Oh no. The problem was that Lo Shen could not master her curse. Nor did she wish to cure it. She was simply looking for a way to minimize the risk of becoming a Musk bride on her return to find me." Cinnamon stood up and began to pace as she talked. "You see, she found her mother after all. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with her. Lo Shen and her mother were able to find out what was causing the problem, but they needed certain things to fix it. Things that they could only find here. 

            "Pa Shen was already too ill to travel to China, so Lo Shen took it upon herself to come for her. To obtain the Kaisuifuu and water from the spring of drowned man. The first was needed, even though Pa Shen mastered her curse, because the protection against Jusenkyo's waters still persisted. Once removed, Pa Shen could take a Nanniichuan curse and repair the imbalance that was destroying her. 

            "Unfortunately, Lo Shen was captured before she could separate her female side and leave it somewhere safe for the raid on the Musk," Cinnamon revealed, coming to a stop and looking at Nodoka. 

            "Obviously, Lo Shen had adopted a different identity while she was gone. Whatever her reasons for becoming Kenshin Saotome, once she returned to China she reverted to her original name. Thus, if she was captured before she split, she could reveal the truth about her resurrection and they would presumably have to treat her as a man and member of their own tribe. 

            "The only way to prove her claim, unfortunately, was to die and be resurrected again. That would have made it impossible to help Pa Shen, so she retracted her claim." Cinnamon shrugged and sat down on top of a nanniichuan keg. This part of the story was already familiar to Nodoka, so she skipped ahead, "Because of Spice and his obsession, it took Lo Shen a while to break free and visit me. From me she obtained my advice on her mission and the location of the Kaisuifuu. 

            "Here, I hesitate to tell you in greater detail what ailed Pa Shen. If I am correct, Nodoka…" she cut herself off. 

            Nodoka realized she had been holding her breath. With a gasp, she shook off the spell of the story and asked, "What is wrong?"

            Cinnamon sighed. "I can tell by looking at you that Lo Shen did not make it back to Pa Shen in time. Pa Shen died, and the problem was not fixed." The dragon gave Nodoka another long look, a touch of sadness and sympathy filling her eyes. "I know this, because you did not know you are Pa Shen." 

It took some effort on the part of the others to calm Onna-Ranko down enough to get an explanation out of her. When she revealed that she saw Herb fish the ladle of the Chisuiiton out of the stream, and her suspicion that it had enchanted the water of the pool, they quickly heated some water from up stream and tested it on Ryouga. Once it was established that Ryouga was locked in female form, the whole group raced back to the village and prepared a hot, salt-water bath to see if the Chisuiiton did in fact prevent Onna and Otoko-Ranko from merging back together. As Herb had suspected, the ability Ranko had gained to reverse the Chisuiiton on her own was disabled by the division of her curse. Herb had permanently separated Ranko's boy and girl halves. 

            In desperation, the pair raced out of the bath to track down and confront Herb. The sight of the two of them streaking naked through the village, to where the Musk contingent had been settled to await the results of Cinnamon's examination of Nodoka, lured quite a crowd. 

            They found Herb sitting with his father, who looked up in shock at Onna and Otoko-Ranko's arrival, and shouted "Where's the Kaisuifuu!?" over the scattered mutterings about "natural red-heads". 

            Spice snapped his fingers at his guards, and the two closest to him whipped off their cloaks and threw them over the two teens' shoulders. "Cover yourselves," Spice instructed firmly. As they blushed and complied with the request, the emperor responded to their demand. "My son has explained his actions to me, and I am forced to agree with his assumption that permitting you to regain your masculine form would compromise your value as a bride. Also, at the time he issued his challenge to you, Ranko, you were entirely female, so it is necessary that you answer that challenge entirely as a woman."

            "Forget it!" Ranko roared in stereo. Onna-Ranko stepped forward and continued, "I was split by an instant curse! I only have one shot to return to normal, and if I wait too long or expend too much ki on some stupid marriage battle, I will never be able to reverse this split!"

            "That is not my problem," Spice shrugged dismissively. "If you manage to defeat my son in the challenge, you will of course be allowed to use the sacred kettle. That is the incentive Herb has given for you to meet this challenge honorably."

            "That's where you're wrong! Herb knows I can't put a cure for myself at risk! He knows he's forcing me to fight at a disadvantage, so he has deliberately sabotaged the fight! If you do not fix this, I reject the challenge!"

            "Then you forfeit the chance to win the use of the Kaisuifuu," Herb declared stepping forward with a triumphant grin. "Furthermore, I can always force you into combat, and if I defeat you, you will have no choice but to grant me the kiss of marriage. My challenge was merely a formality."

            "Yeah!? Well, think about this," Otoko-Ranko stepped up right in Herb's face. "If I become permanently split, I'll have nothing to lose. There won't be any more holding back! I promise you, if you force me to cross that line, you will regret it!" Otoko-Ranko had to struggle to stay focused, as it struck him how protective he suddenly felt for his girl half. How inevitable it was that they would be a couple if anything prevented them from being an individual. 

            Herb just smirked at him. "You are no killer, Saotome. I don't care how much power you call on. Just remember, before you raise the stakes, you are expendable as far as I am concerned."

            Onna-Ranko stiffened, finally realizing that Herb had intended to provoke the two of her--or rather the "him" of her--like this. It was not enough for him to just separate her from her male half. He wanted to obliterate it entirely. All he had needed to do was sucker Otoko-Ranko into his kind of fight. A fight in which Ranko might not be able to do the one thing necessary to win. In a dangerous voice, she reminded Herb, "Do not mistake me for the Ranma you knew."

            Herb paused to look at her. 

            "I promise you, if you try one more move against me, either side of me, and I WILL kill you," she promised, grabbing her boy half and turning to march away from the Musk. Once they were out of ear shot, she grumbled, "I should have known he'd take it too far."

            "Too far!?" Fa Shen shouted at her. Unnoticed by either Ranko, Fa Shen and Ranma had pursued them since they burst out of the bath. They in turn had been shadowed by their friends, a contingent of amazon warriors and the elders of the village. "For pity's sake, Ranko! He almost lured you into starting a war!"

            "What?"

            "She is correct, Child," Cologne pogoed up on her staff. "I was half afraid you would try to take the Kaisuifuu by force. That would have provoked a full scale battle."

            "Are you kidding!?" Ranko cried in synch. "The last thing I can do right now is get into a major fight! I don't wanna remain split like this!"

            Cologne chuckled. Waving the gathered warriors off, she nudged Onna and Otoko Ranko down the path to her home and noted aloud, "It was nice to see you resort to your wits instead of your fists, for a change. You should know you have the full backing of the council on your rejection of his challenge. Sabotage is indeed grounds to ignore a suitor's challenge."

            "Yeah, great," Onna-Ranko suddenly deflated. "But now there's no chance of getting my hands on that damned kettle. I can't negotiate. The last thing he'll allow is for me to merge with my guy side. I can't fight, and if I steal it or have someone else try and nab it, that'll just start a war. No matter what I do, I am screwed."

            The others fell silent and just walked along back to the house at that. None of them could really argue with Ranko. There seemed to be no way out of the trap. At the door to the manor, Cologne explained the need for the elders to keep a tight vigil over their guests before leaving them. Once inside, the teens gathered around the table to mull over the facts, scratching the bottom of the barrel for any idea to help Ranko, while the pair by that name wandered up to their room to get dressed. The first thing the others did was draw up a time line. Fa Shen pointed out that it had taken just under a week for her instant Nanniichuan curse to become permanent when it was locked. That was how long they had to find a solution. Less, if Ranko was forced to expend a lot of ki. After that, her cure would be shed into…

            "Hey! That's it!" Fa Shen shouted, jumping up and racing upstairs. 

            "What?" Ranma hopped up and followed, "What are you talking about?"

            "Ranko! I've got it!" Fa Shen burst into her siblings' room in excitement. 

            "Fa Shen?" the split-twins turned in surprise. 

            "You have to burn it off!" Fa Shen declared, grabbing both of them and dancing around. "If you burn off the instant curse, you can trigger it with a ki attack! You can weld yourself back together without using the Kaisuifuu!"

            The other three stood stunned as they realized she was right. 

            "Wow. You mean do what Ryouga and Akane did, on purpose?"

            "But, then I'd be stuck with a curse to split myself, and I'd lose a ki attack. Make that two, since there'd also be the reversal trigger," Onna-Ranko pointed out uncertainly. It was a painful sacrifice, but it was better than never being whole again. She frowned in thought, giving her other self a look. After a while he shrugged and she nodded. "But, I guess I could live with that."

            "Um. There's one more thing," Otoko-Ranko pointed out. He leaned in close to his girl half and whispered. Her face suddenly flushed and she had to clamp her hands over her mouth to contain a scream of embarrassment and excitement. Ranma and Fa Shen gave Otoko-Ranko a curious, suspicious look, to which he shrugged and began to blush deeply himself. 

            "Oh. My. God," Ranma droned, mouth hanging open. 

            "Tell me they're not thinking…" Fa Shen turned to him. 

            "Well, it would help burn off the instant curse," Ranma shrugged. 

            Fa Shen sighed and looked at the pair. "Well, you finally got the perfect excuse. Have fun, you two," she nodded, giving them each a sly smile, then grabbed Ranma by the collar and dragged him out of the room. 

            "Maybe we won't mention that part to the rest, huh?"

            "You think?" Fa Shen bopped him on the head. 

            After they settled down at the table, downstairs with the others, Ranma could not resist adding, "Herb would just die if he knew."

            "Serves him right for messing with Ranko. Talk about not holding back, though," Fa Shen sniffed and reached for her tea cup. She ignored the stares of Ryouga, Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo while she blew on the hot fluid and took a sip. The weight of their attention only grew, forcing Fa Shen to glance up, and offer an enigmatic smirk. "The problem is solved."

            Before anyone could drag an explanation out of her, Fa Shen jerked up in surprise and jerked her head around looking for something. 

            "What's wrong?" Ranma asked in instant concern. 

            "I thought someone just called my name," Fa Shen declared. 

            "I didn't hear anything…"

            "Wait! There it is again!" Fa Shen leapt to her feet once again. "You must have heard that!"

            "Nothing. Are you sure that's just tea you're drinking?"

            Fa Shen closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Now that she thought about it, it felt like she was hearing the voice in her head. As she focused her attention on it, the voice grew stronger. 

            *Fa Shen… Come to the weapons vault… Come alone…*

            "Yeah, right!" she growled aloud. Focusing her mind further, she tried to project her thoughts. According to a monk her mother once forced her to study under, Fa Shen was supposed to have a talent for this sort of thing, but it had always reminded her of the eerie manner in which the dragon Tsin-Na Minh occasionally communicated with her. *Who the hell is this!? Stop messing with my mind!*

            *Who do you think it is? I am with your mother. We need to talk.*

            Fa Shen grit her teeth. Alarm and terror had surged forth, as the meaning sank in. She had to force herself to remember what the dragon was here for, and try in vain to convince herself that Cinnamon was not a threat to herself or Nodoka right now. *Fine! I'll be there in a moment.* Fa Shen gave the others an apologetic look. "There's something I have to take care of. You guys stay here and keep watch. Oh, and make sure no one disturbs Ranko. Not even any of you, okay?" she instructed pointedly. 

            There was a round of shrugs and nods. Clueless as they were, the advice seemed practical enough. The had all seen how depressed and angry the split twins were. As long as they did not know the solution Fa Shen had come up with, or the manner in which Ranko would pursue it, hopefully a riot would not break out over it. 

            Fa Shen made her way out to the vault. There were sentries posted, from both the village and the visiting Musk. They parted without a word to admit Fa Shen. She slipped in through the door that opened as she approached, and paused once inside to let her eyes adjust. The moment she cleared the entrance, the door silently swung shut. Fa Shen gulped and tried to control her breathing.

            "Please come closer," the eerily familiar voice of Cinnamon called out of the darkness. 

            "I'm fine here," Fa Shen answered stubbornly with a shudder. 

            There was a long suffering sigh. 

            "Fa Shen, please do not be rude," Nodoka reprimanded motherly. 

            "I promise I am not going to eat you."

            "You're a little too late…" Fa Shen grumbled under her breath. Her vision had adapted enough to assure her that Cinnamon was still in human form. She strode forward and schooled her face to betray only the slightest curiosity and concern. "What did you need me for, Mother?" 

            "I need you to settle an argument," Nodoka announced primly. 

            Fa Shen arched an eyebrow. "I don't understand."

            "I can explain later," Cinnamon promised. "Just tell us, do you think you would recognize your mother, that is, Pa Shen, if you encountered her today?"

            Fa Shen tilted her head. That was an unexpected question. "At one point, I would have said yes," she confessed, noting that Cinnamon was perched on a cask, beside Nodoka, who rested on a stool. There was another cask free, so Fa Shen lowered herself to sit on it.

            "At one point? Please explain," Cinnamon urged eagerly. 

            "Well, the first time I saw Ranko's mother, I thought she was my mother. Pa Shen, I mean. Only, as I saw more of her, I could tell she was a totally different person." Fa Shen noticed that at first, Nodoka paled a bit and looked away, while Cinnamon smiled, then towards the end, Nodoka sighed and Cinnamon frowned. Confused, Fa Shen asked, "What is going on?"

            "Soon. I'll get to that soon. Please, tell me, in what way was Nodoka a different person to you? What exactly were your impressions, and how did you come to change your mind about your first impression?" Cinnamon persisted. 

            Fa Shen closed her eyes and tried to think back. Shrugging, she related, "Well, obviously, she looks like my real mom, and her presence felt so familiar, so… She FELT like my mother. Then, when she spoke, I realized she was Nodoka. I had expected her to look the way she had in Ranma and Ranko's memory. Since she was their mother, I realized that I must have been responding to their feelings for her."

            "I see. So, you're saying that your senses told you Nodoka is Pa Shen, but you 'knew' that could not be right and just ignored what they were telling you?" Cinnamon phrased carefully. 

            Fa Shen shrugged, "I guess so." 

            Cinnamon turned to Nodoka and smiled in triumph, "There, does that satisfy you? She noticed it too, but talked herself out of believing it. That is why she never said anything."

            Fa Shen watched as Nodoka seemed to sink into a state of shock. "Hey! What th- Mom! What did you do to her!" Fa Shen turned an angry glare on Cinnamon as she rushed over to Nodoka's side and took her hands in her own. 

            "I- it's alright, Dear. It's just so unbelievable. I just don't understand how it is possible. How!? I am Kenshin's daughter!" Nodoka returned to the protest she had begun her argument with. How could she be Pa Shen, resurrected phoenix or what not, if she was actually someone else's daughter?

            "I don't know how," Cinnamon laughed at Nodoka. "Not exactly, that is. I have to guess. But, I can say this, Lo Shen was not pregnant when she came to see me. I doubt she ever was."

            Fa Shen cocked her head and interrupted, "Wait a second. What are you talking about!?"

            Nodoka sighed and turned to her daughter. "She says I am Pa Shen."

            Fa Shen nearly fell over backwards. Only her grip on Nodoka's hands kept her upright. "What!? Now how is that supposed to be possible!?"

            Cinnamon chuckled, "Right. That explanation you were asking for. Well, prepare yourself for a shock." With that brief warning, Cinnamon began repeating the revelations she had dropped on Nodoka. She had to pause several times to explain various bits in greater detail, or to let Fa Shen come down from another explosion, as when Cinnamon revealed that Pa Shen had been a phoenix. Finally, she made her way back to Lo Shen/Kenshin's quest. "I had to know how the Kaisuifuu and Nanniichuan water was supposed to help Pa Shen. It just seemed like such a hare-brained idea. Pa Shen should not have needed a male curse to access her powers as a phoenix, she had mastered her curse and was able to revert to her natural form at will."

            "You've seen her in her natural form?" Fa Shen asked awestruck. 

            Cinnamon shook her head, "No. Lo Shen had. I only knew about the mastery of curses because Pa Shen had advised me on how to master my own in the brief hours we were friends."

            "What exactly was wrong with Pa Shen?" Nodoka finally asked. 

            "Oh, that's right, I did not explain that part to you," Cinnamon realized with a start. Adjusting her perch, she thought back to the part of her story she had skipped. "According to Lo Shen, Pa Shen had remained young and vital up until the weeks before Lo Shen began her quest. She had not died and been reborn, but endured through the centuries like an immortal. She had become barren after having you, Fa Shen, and according to Lo Shen, your birth was the cause of the problem." 

            "My birth?" Fa Shen asked anxiously.

            "Well, actually, the way you were conceived and the manner in which you died, combined."

            "I don't understand," mother and daughter said together. 

            "It has to do with how Pa Shen's nature reacted to her curse. As a phoenix, she had the powers of regeneration, rejuvenation, resurrection and rebirth. The first two adapted to human form without pause. The third would only function in the event of death, but the last, well… After Lo Shen was born, Pa Shen unexpectedly became pregnant again. But this time, there was no father. You were conceived parthenogenically, Fa Shen," Cinnamon paused to let the girl absorb that. 

            "What does that mean exactly," Fa Shen asked after a moment. 

            "The power of rebirth is used by a phoenix to adapt to new circumstances or environments. It is a method that allows an individual phoenix to evolve. So, in simple terms, you are a reincarnation. You are Pa Shen reborn as a human being possessing the potential of a phoenix." 

            Nodoka blinked and cut in, "Wait. How can we both be Pa Shen?"

            Cinnamon nodded, having expected that question. "In some ways, it is not that different from how one person can be split by a twins' curse. The original phoenix lives out its life while the evolved phoenix matures, and eventually, when the original dies, its soul transfers fully into the offspring. Unfortunately, Fa Shen had limitations which prevented her from realizing her potential as a phoenix, and when she died, her spirit was trapped in the spring.

            "This was the cause of Pa Shen's problem," Cinnamon pointed out finally. "The process of passing on to a new, evolved form was both incomplete and interrupted. Fa Shen, conceived in the image of the woman the phoenix became, had tied up half of the creative potential Pa Shen possessed. The other half, the male half, had never been manifested."

            Fa Shen and Nodoka exchanged looks, suddenly catching on, "So this is where the Kaisuifuu and the Nanniichuan curse come in. But, how exactly?"

            "I do know how Pa Shen and Lo Shen figured it out, but Lo Shen told me that they had been told that Pa Shen needed to complete the process that had started with Fa Shen. Conceive, parthenogenically, a male version of Fa Shen. Thus, Pa Shen needed a male form." Cinnamon shrugged and stood up. She took a few stray steps and hypothesized, "Things would be very different now, if that had been accomplished. I suspect that time simply ran out for Pa Shen. When Lo Shen left her, she had been stuck down by rapid aging, and had begun to lose control of her ki. If she died before Lo Shen got back to her, she would have been resurrected as an infant.

            "I suspect the trauma of the ordeal was so great that Pa Shen did not reawaken in the child, so she grew up ignorant of who and what she was to become you, Nodoka," Cinnamon concluded sympathetically. 

            "So, my father's command, that I bear a son, a man-among-men, was intended to fulfill this process of rebirth?" Nodoka asked, mystified. 

            "I have no idea about that. Although," Cinnamon paused thoughtfully. She gave Fa Shen a serious look. "I remember discussing the legends of Jusenkyo with Lo Shen. I had suggested that if the boy Pa Shen intended to conceive were to be dipped in the Nyanniichuan, he might be able to retrieve the spirit of Fa Shen. Remembering that Fa Shen had refused to accept a Nanniichuan curse as her mother requested, I commented that the boy had better be pretty secure in his manhood, or Fa Shen's personality would take over and she would reject the masculinity she needed to inherit her full powers."

            There was a moment of silence. When Cinnamon turned around to look at the two other females, she was nailed by two very different glares. 

            "What?" she asked. 

            "You mean to say, the idea all along was to have Ranma be cursed to turn into a girl!" Nodoka exclaimed in indignation. 

            Cinnamon shrugged, "It was obvious to me that was what had to happen. What are you so upset about?"

            "Oh, nothing. Just that things got so screwed up that Ranma came pretty damn close to being gutted and beheaded because the same curse impinged on his manhood!" Fa Shen almost shouted. 

            Cinnamon waved that off imperiously. "I imagine that would have given all of you something of a surprise. Just having the curse would have given him a shot at tapping into the power of resurrection. As I remember, the people in the land of Wa tend to cremate their dead, yes?"

            Nodoka and Fa Shen nodded, realizing now what would have happened. 

            "I just can't believe that was the point all along," Fa Shen complained, tapping into her Ranma persona unconsciously. 

            "What I can't understand is how he was even conceived in the first place. Nodoka doesn't have a Nanniichuan curse," Cinnamon pointed out. In response, Nodoka explained what had happened with the Togenkyo water. "What? You say the water turns animals and people into men, and when ingested causes women to conceive only sons?" Their enthusiastic nods were enough ratification for Cinnamon. Clearly, this family lived under another famous Chinese curse. "Very interesting times indeed," she muttered. "Well. I guess that bit of magic was just enough to do the job. It certainly seems less troublesome than Lo Shen's plan. She would have been required to be the surrogate mother of a male Pa Shen's son."

            "Um, does that mean Ranma was conceived parthenogenically?" Fa Shen inquired impulsively. 

            "That would have to be the case. Otherwise, Ranma would not have been an incarnation of the phoenix," Cinnamon pointed out academically. "Besides, I already told you that Pa Shen was barren. Her reproductive system was locked on trying to balance your conception. That Togenkyo water was the catalyst it needed to succeed."

            "Doesn't that mean Genma isn't Ranma's father?"

            "Oh, dear!" Nodoka covered her mouth in surprise. 

            "Father? I thought I told you, parthenogenesis doesn't require a father. There's only a single parent, in any case. So, there's either just a father or just a mother," Cinnamon elaborated completely oblivious to Fa Shen's point. 

            "That's what we meant," Fa Shen laughed, shaking her head. The motion continued through a shift in personality and form. "Do you have any idea what a relief it is to know I'm not related to that fat, lazy, crooked panda?" an irate "Ranma" demanded, to the shock of a certain dragon. He jumped up and lifted the cask he had been sitting on, "And all that abuse! All those stupid engagements! He can just STAY a panda as far as I am concerned!"

            Cinnamon's eyes had widened as Ranma raised the cask over his head and moved to dash it open on the ground. "Hey! Careful with that stuff!"

            Ranma jerked upright, fingers scrabbling to keep a grip on the cask as he twisted around to remark, "It's alright. We're all protected by the Chisuiiton."

            "I'm not!" Cinnamon cried. In her haste to jump back and avoid the whim of cursed waters, Cinnamon tripped over the cask she had been sitting on earlier. As she stumbled to keep her footing the cask tipped over and began to roll towards Ranma. Unfortunately, he had automatically lurched forward to catch the falling young woman, shifting the cask he was holding to one hand as he reached out with the other. He stepped square on the rolling cask as Cinnamon fell back twisting into a back handspring as her feet flew up and reflexes took over. Ranma went down as the rolling cask shot out from under his foot, but the raised cask continued up and forward, right into the space where Cinnamon's feet kicked through the air. 

            "Oh, crap!" Ranma cursed as his face rocketed into the ground. 

            The thud and crack of the air-borne cask shattering and spilling over an inverted Cinnamon drowned out her own colorful epitaphs, but not the shift in pitch that revealed what she had become. Surprisingly, "he" kept his balance and completed the handspring, then turned around to stare at the others in shock. The look on Nodoka's face was priceless. Her words, as her eyes became dazzled and glassy, were less than informative. 

            "So, manly!" 

            Ranma groaned and looked up. He smirked and hopped away from the puddle that was streaming off of the new made man, "Cool. I guess I'll be a real hunk in two more years!"

            "I hate Jusenkyo," the dragon growled. 

In a small cage within the pavilion of the Prince of the Musk, an angry and bitter duck had exhausted all of his options for escape but one. Between the time spent quacking in fury at what Herb had done, attempts to use various small hidden weapons to pick the lock or pry at the bars of his cage, and silently cursing himself for his blindness, Mousse had plenty of time to think about the decisions that led to his present circumstances. After all his plotting, after all the attacks and accusations he had leveled at his unwanted rival--in his or her many incarnations--it had been the uncontrollable temper of an angry, foreign tomboy that had finally freed his darling Shampoo from the clutches of the vile Saotome. It was like nothing he had done had amounted to anything, except to dishonor and humiliate the master of hidden weapons. All his efforts had done was put him in a position where he had to choose between accepting the loss of his humanity or the loss of his manhood. 

            Mousse did not believe, for one moment, that Herb would really free him from the accursed Chisuiiton. Saotome, whether called Ranma or Ranko, would somehow manage to snatch victory out of Herb's grasp, like every other time when the outcome really mattered, and Herb would leave Mousse trapped the way he was out of spite. Incredibly, Herb had either overlooked the fact that Mousse could at least regain his humanity, or he had somehow failed to learn that Mousse had branded himself with the chi powered nyanniichuan curse. Triggering it was the last trick up Mousse's sleeve, one he had desperately wished to avoid employing. 

            Returning to his home, the village of amazons, as a woman might very well be the last thing he ever did. Even though he gained womanhood through a bizarre series of accidents, there was a chance he would be condemned for breaking one of the most rigid laws of his people. If he was not executed, he might instead be exiled--which was a fate worse than death as far as Mousse was concerned. Worst of all, though, the combination of the curse and being locked in female form might revalidate his marriage to Shampoo. Cologne or Shampoo might very well kill him over that. 

            Mousse sighed. That was probably over dramatic. 

            His real fear was that Saotome would want revenge for all the low and selfish things Mousse had done in the past few weeks. His attempt to force Shampoo to kill Ranko, followed by challenging Ranko to a matrimonial battle--using her to get at Shampoo--and conspiring with Herb to gain the skill and power to defeat her, even to the point of betraying Fa Shen or Ranko into Herb's clutches, Mousse had given all of the Saotome's cause for vengeance. 

            It was making it real hard for Mousse to feel at all proud of himself, and he needed that to trigger the transformation that would allow him to escape from his current trap. 

            At least past experience had proven that Mousse could survive the attempt. Cologne had a nasty habit of locking Mousse up in a cage to keep him out of her way, but once, Mousse had gotten so pissed that his struggles bounced the cage into a sink where he had been washing dishes--always in hot water, thanks to his curse--and the water was still warm. His transformation back to himself had shattered the cage, and to his surprise, for all the pain he suffered, he sustained no damage in the process. The change itself seemed to offer some protection, or it was akin to the way trees could shift massive boulders or split foundations through the simple process of growth. 

            Taking hold of himself, Mousse tried to decide on a course of action. Escape was essential. Herb needed to pay for locking him in duck form. Mousse needed to do something to make up for using and betraying Ranko. Most of all, he needed to prove himself to Shampoo. With all his failures as a man, perhaps his only chance to impress her was as a woman and a warrior. It was entirely possible that was precisely what Ranma did from the beginning, and the way he truly stole Shampoo's heart. Nodding to himself, Mousse came to a decision he could be proud of. As the feeling swelled, pouring out of the aquatic avian body to illuminate the shadows of the pavilion, the change happened. The cage squealed and snapped in protest as the body of an attractive, young, amazon woman took the place of the duck. 

            Mousse rolled out of the wreckage of the cage to land on all fours, saving herself from an embarrassing sprawl over the extravagant hand woven rugs of the prince's tent. Gracefully rising to her feet, Mousse balled a fist and spoke aloud, "If a woman is what my beloved Shampoo really wants, then I shall be that woman!" 

            Just at that moment, Lime and Mint burst into the pavilion to see what was causing the disturbance. They took one startled look at the naked lady standing before them, and raced forward in glee.

            "Look, Mint! It's a naked woman!"

            "Gaah! The lovely breasts are hiding in her hair!"

            Mousse saw them lurching toward her and shrieked like a little girl. "Eeeek! You perverted morons! Back o- Yaaaaa! Stop touching me! Waaah! Don't put your hands down there! Leggo-ooooooooOOOH! That. Does. It!" Mousse did not remember hiding a large mallet on his person, but when it appeared in her hands, she wasted no time putting it to good use. Flashing them unintentionally as she raised her weapon, the poor boys had no chance to dodge. They were too mesmerized by the way her assets bounced and flowed in time with her movements. The burst of adrenaline that came in the wake of the pair of them groping her was enough to pound them deep into their own personal craters. It had been easier than slaughtering cattle. 

            Mousse huffed and shuddered, standing over their prone and twitching forms ready to administer more pain for several long moments. Finally, with a snort of feminine outrage and disdain, she marched over to the line of chests against one silk and canvas wall and started searching through them for something to wear. A few moments later, after determining that her robes had been stored elsewhere unknown, she emerged from the palatial tent dressed like a princess. She made a quick tour of the camp, surprised to find all the warriors had vacated, leaving a small detachment to guard the site, and collected all the stray tools and weapons she could lay her hands on. 

            Satisfied with her dress and arsenal, she set out for the amazon village. It was a fair walk, and would give her some time to think of what, exactly, she would do when she got there. Running straight in and challenging Herb was obviously not the smartest thing she could do. She had improved quite a bit in the past week, and in girl form she no longer suffered from her greatest handicap. She had sharp vision, greater speed and endurance, had added ki attacks to her arsenal--the first of which she could actually use while in girl form--and had learned of a few of Herb's weaknesses. None of which meant she was ready to fight Herb, and in her present form it would be a disaster to lose to him and end up having to marry him. 

            True, that was an excellent way to screw up Herb's plans and save Ranko, making up for past offenses, but that was a bit more of a sacrifice than Mousse wanted to make. Unfortunately, that was the closest Mouse came to formulating a plan before reaching the village. The gate sentries were surprised when Mousse gave the proper responses to their challenges, since she was a stranger to their eyes, and more importantly dressed like Musk royalty. 

            "I have just escaped from their camp," Mousse explained to answer their suspicions. "If you call Elder Cologne, she can vouch for my identity."

            Cologne, when she arrived to answer the guards summons, was completely flabbergasted. "Mousse! What have you done?" she hissed under her breath after gesturing for Mousse to lean close. 

            "Nothing new," Mousse responded self-mockingly, "I fell prey to my own pride." To further illustrate her point, she summoned a ball of prideful chi in her outstretched hand. Cologne's eyes widened, as the full implications hit her. 

            "I am surprised you dared to reveal this," she commented, faintly impressed with the boy's gall. 

            "I had little choice. Thanks to Herb I was forced to surrender my manhood or my humanity. I refuse to remain a helpless water-fowl while that man reaps the rewards of my short-sightedness." Mousse ground her teeth and clenched her fists. Cologne searched her eyes and nodded. 

            "I vouch for this amazon warrior. Her name is Mirror, and she is the lost sister of Mousse," Cologne announced authoritatively. The guards accepted that at face value and returned their attention to their duties, leaving Mousse with Cologne. 

            "Why did you do that?" Mousse asked as they walked into the village. 

            "Because it would be a waste of your potential to have you executed. If what you say is correct, you may never again be a man. If so, it is far easier to give you a new identity than to allow your original identity to serve as a death sentence," Cologne responded curtly. 

            Mousse blinked unhappily. "You'd really execute me, knowing that it was entirely accidental." 

            "I am not that harsh. Unfortunately, there are those who are, and if I tried to defend you it would serve only to ensure you received the maximum punishment. Too many things have upset the status quo. I have been the instrument of too many recent changes. An amazon male turned female, on top of everything else the council has had to swallow?" Cologne shook her head sternly. "I'm afraid you'd be used as an object lesson to counter the influence of Nodoka and her children." 

            "So," Mousse sagged under the sudden weight of doom. 

            "I will warn the others to keep your secret. They are all gathered at my home. Hopefully, they will decide your condition is punishment enough for selling Ranko out to Herb. If they out you, Mousse, I suggest you run. Run like hell and don't ever look back," Cologne advised, with a piercing stare. 


	13. Part Thirteen

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Bonus Volume

A. V. Morgan

Author's Note 

As the story developed, it became apparent that it would easily work as a complete volume on it's own. So, Reflexes will be 15 parts in length, meaning there will be two more parts following this one. The general purpose of Reflexes was to act as a bridge between Ranma Nibunnoichi: Reflections and Ranko Nibunnoichi: Refractions, so once again there will be many things left unresolved at the conclusion of this volume. I hope this won't disappoint of frustrate my readers too much. I do care what you think, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read, admire those of you who stick it out through each part--including the inevitable delays between them, and love those of you who post comments or review. I am trying something in this part to deal with the character confusion, so do tell me if it helps. I can go through the other parts and use the same trick to clarify them. It's pretty simple, and should not be too awkward to read through. 

Example: In the last part, Ranma's personality took possession of Fa Shen. To cut down on confusion, the character's name would be altered to: Fa Shen-no-Ranma. The first part refers to the specific body, the second refers to the personality in control. It's sort of a take off on the Japanese convention, such as Kuno's nickname for Ranma-chan, Osage-no-Onna. Ne? Well, thanks for reading, just a little more to go, then the REAL story can begin!

A.V. Morgan

Part Thirteen

In the dining area of Cologne's home, following Fa Shen's mysterious exit, Ranma and Ryouga were huddled around one corner discussing the risks and opportunities the lost girl faced now that she was locked in female form. At the opposite corner, Shampoo and Akane were fielding questions and arguments posed by Ukyo as she stared into a pitcher of water in which a packet of Instant Nanniichuan had been dissolved. Three weeks ago, none of them would have ever imagined themselves forming and participating in an impromptu transsexual support group. On this day, however, every person present--and a few not present--were more than qualified to discuss gender bending to the ultimate extreme. Ranma was forced to take deep, calming breaths to maintain his equilibrium in the presence of so many people openly discussing the trials and ordeals of changing sex at the drop of a bucket. 

            Ironically, the first to cross the line between genders found herself in the odd position of being the last of this group to complete the process. It was almost inevitable that Ukyo would end up in this position, and no one was really surprised to see her methodically preparing to take the final step in her transgender life style. As much as he dreaded and regretted her determination to become a man, as much as her reasons for doing so disturbed him, Ranma understood why she felt forced to. He had tried to discourage her, in vain, so his last hope was that Akane and Shampoo could convince her not to go through with her experiment. 

            "But we know now that it ISN'T safe," Akane was arguing. 

            Shampoo nodded emphatically. "Instant Nanniichuan much more dangerous than Shampoo once think. You run risk of permanent change if expose to waterproof soap, or if expose to chisuiiton water and no get curse unlocked in time. You run risk of chi infection, give yourself curse like Akane. Is too, too dangerous."

            "You think I didn't think of that?" Ukyo glared back. "It's still safer than anything else I could experiment with. Now that it's looking more and more like I don't have a chance with Ranma, if I have to live the rest of my life as a man, then becoming one is hardly the worst thing that could happen to me. There isn't really a choice. This is a matter of honor."

            "It stupid."

            "Ukyo, I can't argue with any of that," Akane cut in, flashing a scowl at Shampoo. "It's just… with Herb here, I don't think it's a good idea. Mousse must have told him about you and Ranko, he'd definitely take that as a direct challenge to him. I'm just saying, maybe you should wait a little longer."

            "Sugar," Ukyo sighed heavily, strained patience and frustration lacing her voice, "That's precisely WHY I can't wait any longer. Ranko… I can't risk losing her to that beast."

            "But, there's no way you can fight him!"

            "Akane!" Ranma turned from his conversation with Ryouga in shock. If there was anything anyone could say that would make Ukyo more inclined to back down, that sort of statement was the farthest thing from it. Only an idiot would say something guaranteed to be taken as a direct challenge. Glaring at the tomboy, Ranma sniped, "Don't encourage her like that!"

            "Can it, Ranma," Ukyo growled. "I know you all think he's out of my league, but trust me, I'm not as pathetic as you think!" 

            "Ukyo- Ucchan," Ranma faced the okonomiyaki chef. "I know you have always held back in your fights in Nerima. You use weapons, and like everyone who uses weapons, your real techniques are lethal. If you stopped holding back, I'm sure you'd be deadly. It still wouldn't be enough. Besides, do you really think I'd let you get into a fight to the death with someone like Herb!?"

            "Do you really think Herb believes in any other kind of fight?" Ukyo stared back sarcastically. "The thing is, he wouldn't expect me to be a threat. His arrogant, chauvinistic pride won't allow him to take me seriously until it's too late. Besides, Herb has other weaknesses I can exploit." She held up a bottle of water the others had seen her fill at the pool Herb had tainted with the Chisuiiton and waved it suggestively. 

            "You've really been thinking about this, haven't you?" Ryouga asked with wide eyed surprise. Earlier, Ryouga has been forced to scoot away from Ukyo before the cloud of depression surrounding the other girl triggered the lost girl's pig curse. That was what had prompted Ranma to begin discussing a "training regimen" to help Ryouga quickly master her locked curse. 

            Ukyo turned to glare at Ryouga, causing her to flinch. "Of course I have, you jackass! What else can I do!? Fight YOU?" There was a moment's pause as the others turned to look at Ryouga's open mouthed shock. As a few eyes flickered back to her, Ukyo growled, "I'm surprised you didn't consider that. My options are pretty limited. Be as ruthless as Herb and grab Ranko's guy half, or kill you to get Ranma, and maybe I can stay a girl--otherwise I better get used to the idea of being a guy."

            "K-kill me?" Ryouga blinked. 

            "Is there any other way to steal Ranma from you? If I get you out of the way I could challenge Ranma. I mean, if Akane can claim Fa Shen for a wife, who around here would doubt my 'qualifications' to marry Ranma? Doesn't that sound like a great plan!?" Ukyo stood and towered over Ranma and Ryouga. Both of them looked horrified. "Yeah, right. So, maybe you two don't want Shampoo and Akane to talk me out of using this?" she picked up the pitcher and shook it for emphasis. Leaning closer to Ryouga, she snarled, "It's not like I really want to be a guy, if I can avoid it. I'll do it if I have to, but if you're not standing between me and Ranma, I won't have to! So, really, I'm just deciding who I have to beat, you or Herb! Either way, I'd be playing for keeps." 

            "Spatula Girl really do think about this," Shampoo mused. 

            "Would you really kill to get me?" Ranma challenged plaintively. He shuddered, imagining for an instant being thrust into a relationship with an Ukyo who had slain his--or more accurately "her"--lover. A flicker of hatred entered his voice as he pressed, "Do you think I'd ever forgive you for trying!?"

            Ukyo turned to him and frowned. Turning away and sitting down, she huffed, "Probably not. I know I wouldn't." It was a no win proposition.

            Ranma frowned and studied her more carefully. He could see in Ukyo's eyes that she had already understood how much Ranma would hate her if she ever tried to come between him and Ryouga. That, more than anything, underscored her point. There was nothing left for Ukyo to gain by remaining as she was. There was a world of difference between fighting with Ryouga over Ranma and fighting with Herb over Ranko. The latter offered a slim chance for Ukyo to come out as the good guy--at the cost of actually becoming a guy; to be fighting FOR Ranko, protecting her from a marriage she truly did not want. 

            Even that was not certain, though. Ukyo was still stinging from the harsh words Ranko had lashed her with that morning. Ukyo had pondered the very thing Ranko accused her of, claiming the male Ranko for herself. It was such an obvious solution to the problem, and yet it just proved that Ukyo had almost no options that did not somehow make her the bad guy. If she questioned or ignored the sincerity and depth of her feelings, her principle reason for pursuing Ranko was identical to Herb's. Her father commanded it. Ukyo pulled the nanniichuan water closer to her, peering through the glass. Her heart longed for the man Ranko had been, and remained bound to the girl she now seemed to be. Her own girlish hopes and dreams had long since died of a broken promise. 

            Ukyo leaned back, raising the pitcher over her head, and declared, "I guess I'll just have to be a man about it." In a blink, the table was cleared around her, no one eager to brave the whims of even a temporary curse. Thus, no one got a close look at the changes Ukyo underwent. 

            For a moment, the consensus was that nothing had happened. The somewhat ambiguous claim that an instant curse would work on a chisuiiton locked form seemed to be disproved, then Ukyo ripped open her shirt, fingers scrabbling to loosen the bindings that restrained her breasts. Snatching one of her small spatulas, she sliced through the elastic cloth and took a deep, anguished breath as the material fell away to expose a somewhat broader, and unquestionably masculine chest. "Oh, damn that hurt!"

            Ukyo started. His voice sounded almost the same. It was close to the same range, but there was a richness, a resonant timber. That was not the only "surprise" he quickly realized, as an unfamiliar pinching and pressure assailing the newest and most tender portion of his anatomy pierced through the haze of shock clouding his thoughts.  

            "U-Uc-Ucchan?" Ranma gulped. 

            "Welcome to the club," Akane heaved a bitter sigh. 

            "Uh, excuse me, guys," Ukyo suddenly flushed and bounded from his seat. He cursed his stupidity as he raced for the stairs. For all Ukyo was known for "her" preference for male clothing, one specific article of clothing had always been exempt from her cross dressing habit. 

            "Panties," the group said sympathetically, once he was out of earshot. 

            A moment later, Shampoo and Akane rose from the table and followed after Ukyo. Deliberate or not, Ukyo's decision was bound to be difficult and he might need the advice that two girls who had been boys could offer. As soon as they also cleared the room, Ryouga turned to Ranma. 

            "So," she drawled. 

            "Um. Right," Ranma scratched his head thoughtfully. Shrugging, he resumed where he interrupted himself, "As I was saying, we shouldn't waste any time. Now that it's locked, and we know how to reverse your pig curse, this is the best time to focus on mastering your girl curse."

            "I'm not arguing that, Ranma. I just don't understand how what you were saying is supposed to help," Ryouga complained, trying to dismiss the anxiety she had felt as Ukyo seemed on the verge of declaring war over Ranma. Unfortunately, that forced her to face the anxiety caused by what Ranma had been explaining before Ukyo's dilemma distracted them. 

            "Like I told you, I think sex was some kind of short cut for me and Fa Shen," Ranma picked up the thread of his explanation. He failed to notice how those words made Ryouga squirm uncomfortably. 

            "Ah. I don't… that is… well…"

            "Are you blushing?" Ranma asked ingenuously. "Oh, yeah. I forgot, you're a total pervert! I can't even mention sex in passing without your mind slipping into the gutter, huh? Whoa, watch it, P-Chan, you're gonna burst a vessel!" Ryouga's face had grown darker with each word, until she punctuated the last one by pounding Ranma square in the middle of the face. 

            "Who's the pervert, Ranma! At least you had some time to get used to the idea of being the girl before… before… Aaaarrrrgh!" she shuddered in emotional turmoil, torn between outrage, embarrassment and mild but growing arousal. "I'm not in THAT much of a hurry to be a guy again!"

            Ranma rubbed his face, suppressing a moan as his hands brushed over a tenderized nose, then stared through his fingers at the neo-girl. "What are you talking about!?"

            "What do you mean, what am I talking about!?" Ryouga flared up. "I don't care if sex IS a short cut, I don't even care if I OWE you a shot at being the guy! I'm just not ready for that! I still get freaked out taking a piss, you jerk!" she huffed in growing embarrassment. 

            "What? Who said anything about that!?" Ranma reared up to meet the lost girl eye to eye. "Geez, Ryouga! I wouldn't-" was all he got out before he was interrupted by a suddenly timid voice. 

            "You don't want to have sex with me?" Ryouga blinked in surprise. 

            "Well, yeah… I DO… but," Ranma blushed and suddenly looked away. Gulping at the aura of outrage she suddenly produced, Ranma whipped back, waving his hands between them, "Wait! I- I don't mean RIGHT NOW! No way you can handle bein' the girl yet!"

            "What!? You take that back! I can handle anything! I'll be the best girl you EVER had!" Ryouga challenged, puffing up her chest and snarling. 

            "Oh, stop posing and just listen for a second!" Ranma pushed her back. 

            "Do you or do you not want to have sex!?" Ryouga refused to back down on that. As uneasy as she had been about the inevitable role reversal that would result from being in a relationship with Ranma, Ryouga had been struggling to work up the nerve to do it when the time came. 

            "Ryouga," Ranma suddenly became subdued. Looking the lost girl in the eye again, he asked, "Do you really want to rush into things for our first time like that?" Ryouga hesitated for a moment before shyly shaking her head. "I didn't think so. It's gonna happen eventually. I really do hope so. If I wasn't afraid you'd blow a gasket, I'da told you by now what a cute girl you are. But, I know how scary it is to have a guy say something like that to you. Even if the guy is me, it's gotta weird you out."

            Ryouga sighed, almost disappointed to discover Ranma was too decent to take advantage of the situation. Timidly, she met his serious gaze to ask, "Then, if we're not talking about us having sex, how is sex supposed to be a short cut to mastering my curse?"

            Ranma regarded her thoughtfully. Taking a deep breath, he shifted into female form. "Ryouga… I've seen you… ah… exploring your body. Enough to know you're at least… comfortable… with yourself." Ranma smiled nervously while both of them turned bright red. Comfortable was hardly the word to describe the state Ryouga had been in when Ranma tracked the sounds of panting and moaning to a linen closet the night they arrived at Cologne's home. Grinning to herself, she still wondered how long Ryouga had been lost in that tiny room before exploiting the privacy to satisfy either curiosity or previously discovered appetites. "I think that meets the 'acceptance of the curse' part of the Shokei Fist training. The only other thing is getting you to overcome the lock. I think that, because you're normally a guy, and you've had sex with me, I should be able to help you break the lock being like this," Ranma opened her collar and flashed a bit of cleavage.

            Ryouga's eyebrows shot up. 

            Ranma arched her back, lifting her arms up over her head in a sexy pose, "That's how it worked for me and Fa Shen. A sexy girl like me oughta bring out the man in anyone, don't you think?"

            Ryouga swallowed hard and nodded, instantly entranced by Ranma's glorious feminine physique. "That's all it takes?" she aired somewhat breathlessly, unable to believe the secret to mastering any kind of technique could be so deliciously pleasant. 

            "Trust me, Ryo-chan." Ranma slithered forward, wrapping her arms around her lover, and purred into Ryouga's ear, "It's all in the reflexes."

As Ranma and Ryouga raced upstairs to the privacy of Mousse and Ryouga's room in the matriarch's manor, Cologne and the recently dubbed "Mirror" were running into Fa Shen, Cinnamon and Nodoka as they emerged from the vault and headed toward the house to draw the twice cursed dragon a hot bath. Mother and "son" instantly recognized the female form of Mousse and closed in on the pair of amazons to find out what had happened. Cinnamon simply stopped, remaining aloof as the pair rushed forward to meet the elder. Fa Shen, back to his senses if not his native sex, was not the least surprised to hear that Mousse had pulled a Ryouga while learning chi attacks under the instruction of Herb and the supervision of Lime and Mint. At the same time, the recent transformation of Cinnamon was explained to Cologne while Mousse wandered ahead and inadvertently distracted the new made man from the conversation between the matriarch and her adopted daughter and granddaughter. 

            "Somehow, I am not surprised," Cologne responded to the description of how Fa Shen-no-Ranma managed to curse the dragon. "While I admit it was an oversight on my part to leave the casks in the vault, I am curious about one thing. Why did you wish to destroy the cask?" the old woman asked Fa Shen. 

            "It wasn't my idea!" Fa Shen retorted defensively. At the same time, he was not certain he wanted to explain what had summoned his alter ego to the fore and provoked him. "Ranma did it."

            Cologne blinked and looked at the boy closer. "The personality might have been his, but the mind is yours. I strongly suspect you know very well what was on 'his' mind, Child," Cologne reprimanded. 

            "Ah, well…" Fa Shen dithered. In truth, he was aware of his personality shifts, and while his perspective changed totally, he remained conscious of his thoughts and actions in either persona. "Let's just say, the rotten old panda did not deserve such an easy cure." 

            Cologne shrugged, "No argument there. I thought it was a waste to acquire the water for him in the first place. Unfortunately, the damage is done. I hope for your sake the dragon is in a forgiving mood."

            "Why do you say that?" Nodoka interrupted. 

            "Cinnamon killed the last person who cursed, er… him," Cologne reminded them astringently with a nod in Cinnamon's direction. Shaking her head, she directed her attention at Mousse. "For the moment, however, I need you to run in the house, Fa Shen, and warn the others about 'Mirror' over there. I am sure you and your siblings are quite wroth with Mousse for interfering, but should any of you reveal Mirror's true identity, I doubt I could prevent the council from executing her."

            "Even though it was an accident?" Fa Shen challenged. 

            "Too many accidents have happened of late. The council is running out of patience for all of these radical changes. Curses have traditionally been meant to serve as punishments, not promotions." Cologne held the red-headed boy's eye until he nodded in understanding. With a swat of her cane, she commanded, "Enough dawdling. Go tell the others and then you should join our honored guest in the bath."

            "What?" Fa Shen was surprised. Communal bathing was not that common in the village. The practice was usually limited to the hot springs. 

            "Spare me the shocked innocence, Child. Quite possibly you have offended one of the most powerful entities to ever be invited into our village. This would be a good time to see if that infamous Saotome charm is enough to sooth a grumpy dragon's ire."

            "You've got to be kidding!" Fa Shen blushed. 

            "Perhaps a little," Cologne chuckled. "What you do with Cinnamon is entirely up to you, but I would appreciate someone keeping a close eye on him, and you could use a bath."

            Fa Shen's brow wrinkled, but he resisted the urge to take whiff of himself. He had missed his morning bath, courtesy of a quick exit via Air Akane, fought two brief battles and taken a plunge in a river. A bath did sound nice. 

            Cologne approached Mirror and Cinnamon, Nodoka in tow, as Fa Shen sprinted into the house. With the end of her walking stick, she prodded Mirror into accompanying Fa Shen. "Fa Shen is going in to draw you a bath, Honored Dragon," she inclined her head respectfully. 

            Cinnamon returned a nod. 

            "Have you completed your examination of Nodoka?"

            "Yes. I am not, however, ready to share my conclusions." The dragon gave Nodoka a meaningful look. He did not really need to warn her that most of what the dragon revealed to her was exclusively for her benefit. There was no guessing how people would take the news of Nodoka's true identity and the nature of her and her children. 

            Cologne bowed, "As you please, oh noble dragon. May I inquire, though, will you be returning with the Musk to their camp this evening, or were you anticipating the hospitality of the Amazons?"

            "In truth, I expected my new curse to discourage an invitation from either. Spice and Herb in particular will be rather put out to learn of it. A curse such as this makes me unsuitable for a bride, more so as it is so complementary to that of the prince," Cinnamon pointed out. 

            "Not at all," Cologne laughed. "In fact, one might easily be led to think that sex changing curses are in season, to judge by the current trend. While you might qualify for induction into the tribe by virtue of your first curse, the fact that you are not now an amazon protects you from any condemnation over your second. Please consider yourself welcome in my home."

            Cinnamon bowed to the diminutive elder. "I am honored to accept your invitation. Perhaps it is fortunate I did not heed Pa Shen's suggestion to seek sanctuary in the village upon my escape from the Musk so long ago. Even though…" Cinnamon trailed off abruptly, flashing a secretive smile and waving the rest of his comment off. 

            Cologne quirked an eyebrow, and led the way into the house. 

            "Even though, what?" Nodoka asked gamely. 

            "I do not wish to offend," the dragon evaded. 

            "Nonsense! If anything you've the right after what happened," Nodoka encouraged, breezing in through the door after Cologne and Cinnamon. 

            "Very well. You may have noticed, I made no attempt to hide my interest in Fa Shen," Cinnamon prefaced. He filed into the dining area after Cologne and took a seat at the table at a gesture from her. Nodoka took a seat across from him with an expectant look, while Cinnamon continued. "In fact, I have dreamed of a day when she might be sprung from her grave. So, it should come as little surprise if I tell you that I am inclined to challenge her. More so now than ever before," he confided, gesturing to his new male form. Taking a distant expression, he smiled, "I am quite fascinated by her plurality, yet I was disappointed to learn there is some kind of claim upon all of her incarnations. 

            "Were I an amazon," he refocused on Nodoka to point out the specific thought he had cut off, "I would still have the right to challenge Fa Shen, or Ranma despite their marriages to outsiders."  

            "Oh!" Nodoka fought to contain her reaction.

            Cinnamon chuckled. He saw no reason not to confide, "As a man, I may issue a challenge to Ranko--as an outsider myself; though I must then compete with Herb to win her. " 

            "You wish to marry Ranko?" Nodoka asked, wide eyed. She could hardly believe it. Except for being a little older in appearance, Cinnamon was physically the same person as Ranko, or Nodoka herself--given what she had just learned. 

            "I would wish to marry all of them, if I could," Cinnamon admitted candidly, swelling to his full height. "Though I will settle for Ranko, once she defeats the Musk Prince." 

            "I suspect Ranko might not be as enthusiastic," Cologne laughed. 

            "I am sure she gets that from Fa Shen," the dragon replied dryly. 

            "Oh, dear," Nodoka looked down. The logistical problem of another suitor for Ranko was instantly overridden by alarms screaming that such a union was unquestionably incestuous, genetically. The faint tolerance Nodoka had for the children's sexual encounters came from the knowledge that Fa Shen taught them how to protect themselves from impregnation, but children were the point of marriage as far as Nodoka was concerned. Unfortunately, what she knew of amazon eugenics, such a mating would be allowed--on the grounds that defective children would be euthanized. Nodoka leaned close to Cologne and whispered, "I don't think it would be proper!"

            Cologne glanced at her and burst out in wild cackles. Nodoka's logic was easy to unravel. For all the difficulties Cinnamon's admission promised, though, the very notion of Ranko bringing a DRAGON into the tribe was nigh intoxicating. It was certainly a more pleasing prospect than a union that would unite the amazons with the Musk. Since Herb had thrown his own challenge into question by sabotaging Ranko's ability to fight, it would be easy to encourage things in the dragon's favor. Only the fact that a fight right now could render Ranko permanently split, prevented Cologne from revealing Herb's gaffe to Cinnamon. At least until some solution to Ranko's division could be found. For now, she would have to be satisfied by the amusement the situation offered.

            "I am not sure what to think…" Nodoka murmured, flustered. 

            "Beyond the fact that apparently none of them can draw breath without attracting new suitors right out of the woodwork?" Cologne challenged, hooting with glee. "I've never seen the beat of them for it, that's for sure!" she cackled.

            While the matriarch recovered from her outburst of hilarity, and Nodoka fretted about the ever growing complexities of her off-springs' love lives, Fa Shen entered the room to announce that the bath was ready. 

Upstairs, in the room Ukyo had been sharing with Akane, the original fiancée brigade continued to stare at the girl Fa Shen had just reintroduced them all to. Without the glasses, and dressed in the clothes of a Musk prince, it was almost possible to picture the former Mousse as the long-lost sister Cologne had invented. Fa Shen's quick explanation of the master of hidden weapon's transformation, and very grudging endorsement of the deception necessary to protect the neo-girl's life, had been given before Fa Shen excused herself to draw a bath. It had not been necessary for her to ask the others to keep a sharp eye on the traitor, as Shampoo, Akane and Ukyo took Mirror into custody with menacing grins and the promise of tremendous bodily mayhem if she dared to step out of line. Gritting her teeth, Mirror simply nodded, before announcing, "I deserve no less, I suppose. As it stands, you all hold my life in your hands. It would only take one tiny slip from any of you to betray me to the elders. I have no reason to expect you not to, so all I can do is implore you. Do not expose me before I've had a chance to punish Herb for this!" Mirror entreated, gesturing angrily at herself. 

            "If you want to fight Herb, you're going to have to stand in line, Sugar," Ukyo growled, disturbed by his physical response to the new Mousse. Pawing impatiently through his pack, he snapped, "Dammit! I know I packed some boxers for this trip!"

            Akane blushed, clearing her throat with a meek, apologetic expression. "Uh. I'mwearingthem. I'msorryUkyo," she rattled off breathlessly in profound mortification. 

            "What?" Ukyo turned to stare at the tomboy. 

            "I said," Akane looked up, speaking a bit more defiantly, "I am wearing them! I was a boy this morning, remember! I took a bath this morning and then remembered that I threw away all the boy's underwear I brought with me when I thought I was cured at Jusenkyo." Akane hastily reined in her emotions before they could trigger a transformation. Unvoiced was her uncertainty about remaining female, her reason for continuing to wear boys' clothing. She was painfully conscious that she could become male again at any moment. That was the only reason she succeeded in controlling her emotions this time. 

            Ukyo shook his head in dismay. "Right. I guess I'll just borrow some from Ranko," he announced, storming out of the room and bursting through the door across the hall. "Hey, Ranchan! I need… to…" Ukyo stopped short. 

            A charged atmosphere filled the room The nude forms of Ranko, boy and girl, lay tentatively entwined, spoon fashion, upon a futon. In the wake of Ranma and Fa Shen's exit, they had playfully explored each other until they fell naturally into a relaxed and contemplative pose, her back pressed perfectly into the contours of his muscular front. Her arms were pulled in, folded demurely over her bosom while his were wrapped over hers securely. As one they looked up at the intruder and cried out, "Gyaaah!"

            The girls turned and gasped as Ukyo stumbled back frantically and slammed the door he just opened shut. From inside the room, the male and female voices of Ranko shouted out in obvious indignation, "Doesn't anybody know how to knock!?"

            "Ukyo? What was…?" Akane pushed forward, intent on checking in on the couple, elite pervert detection senses crackling online. Ukyo's arm swept out to intercept her and propel her back into the girls' room. "Hey!"

            "Trust me, Akane. You don't want to go in there," Ukyo was blushing furiously, the image of the split twins naked bodies tangled on the futon burned into his retinas. The earlier mystery of Fa Shen's announcement, that Ranko's problem had been solved, quickly unraveled as Ukyo's mind put assorted facts together in light of the scene he just witnessed. He quashed the impulse to race back in there and punish them for "cheating" on him like that. To himself, he muttered, "Over an hour, and they're still on foreplay!?"

            "What was that?" Akane squinted in suspicion, pulling against his grip in stubborn determination to find out what the perverts were doing to make Ukyo blush so intensely, yet defend them at the same time. Shocking and provocative images suddenly filled her head, flashes of seeing Fa Shen and Ranma spilling out of the compact in coital union coming back to haunt her. For perhaps the first time, Akane had leapt to the correct conclusion. "What is that pervert up to!?" Akane cried, straining to reach the door. 

            "Let it go, Akane!" Ukyo shook the girl hard, drawing an angry glare from her. Restraining Akane firmed Ukyo's resolve and brought to mind the way Cologne had put Akane on the spot over her reaction to Ranma and Fa Shen's indiscretions. Ukyo did not hesitate to put his rival in her place with a blunt reminder, "I mean it, Akane. What Ranko does with him or her self is nobody else's business. Shampoo, would you grab her for a sex…  er, sec?" 

            Shampoo's eyes widened at the slip, but she nudged Mirror and the two of them seized Akane in iron grips. "What you do now?" she asked. 

            "I still need a pair of underwear," he answered crisply. Ukyo had no intention of making the same mistake Akane had. This was his chance to prove himself and be the one who ultimately won Ranko's heart. That meant walking back in, taking the shock in stride, and showing trust and acceptance of the person he loved. Ukyo rapped on Ranko's door and let himself back in. The couple had darted under a blanket, clearly expecting the entire household to come storming into the room now that they had been discovered, waiting with expressions of frustration, arousal and anxiety. "Sorry, ah, Ranko. I needed to borrow some boxers," Ukyo parted his shirt to reveal the flat chest to them, giving both of them a shock. 

            "Ukyo! What did you do!?" they shouted, nearly leaping out of bed at him. At first glance, they had not been able to tell Ukyo had changed. As a he, Ukyo possessed the same androgynous quality that made "her" capable of passing for a boy. 

            "Don't freak out, Ranchan, it's just the Instant. I put this little experiment off too long already," Ukyo explained, stifling the bitterness that wanted to voice itself. As the couple studied his transformation, his eyes strayed longingly over the pair. The impulse to strip down and join them was so tempting, though he was brought up short by his body's reaction to the idea. Ukyo swallowed hard, trying to ignore his awakening manhood. The silence was becoming strained when Ukyo remembered his excuse and huffed, "So, can I get some shorts or what?"

            The couple in bed exchanged looks and the boy shrugged, "Sure, Ucchan. The pack's in the closet over there." It was not hard to read what was in Ukyo's eyes as he looked at them. They were relieved that their reaction to Ukyo had not been on their faces when the glanced at each other. It was shocking how little the curse changed him. 

            As Ukyo turned to retrieve Ranko's pack, the girl half developed an evil grin. That little flash of chest was in no way innocent. Regardless of what Ukyo said, his main interest in being a man was catch Ranko. Unfortunately, just because Ranko knew that did not mean it could not work. Which was reason enough to strike at the opening Ukyo unwittingly offered. "You realize this makes Ukyo the first person to get into our shorts," she quipped to her other half, folding her arms saucily. 

            "Urk!" Ukyo nearly planted his face in the floor. "Ranko!"

            "Gotcha!" the girl smirked. After deflecting the glare he shot at her, Ranko hugged herself nervously. "Um, about this…" she began. 

            "…I can explain…" her counterpart picked up. 

            Ukyo laughed softly, "Don't sweat, I think I know what you're up to."

            "You do?" the couple echoed, eyebrows arched in surprise. 

            "Just a guess, but… I take it this is supposed to help you pull yourself back together?" Ukyo tested, slipping a pair of boxers from the pack into his pocket, without taking his eyes off the couple. He smiled wolfishly as the pair nodded. He could not resist getting in a jab of his own, "Ah, well… If you're in that much of a hurry, why are you two taking so long!?"

            The couple blushed deeply, and the girl squeaked, "Well, the first time should be special, right?" 

            "Oh, come on. You… you're both the same person! Surely it doesn't count…" Ukyo flushed, nearly losing her composure to a surge of jealousy. 

            "Ah, er… if you want to be technical… but, come on, Ukyo! This certainly ain't no dildo!" she grabbed her boy half and shook him emphatically. He turned to face her with narrowed eyes, before giving Ukyo an innocent look. 

            "And, they sure don't make blow-up dolls like this," he pulled his girl half close and squeezed her right breast demonstratively. She yelped softly in surprise before turning to slap him upside the head. 

            "Behave!" she growled and turned back to Ukyo. "The point is, I'm not going to be a virgin after this. Can you blame me for wanting to savor the moment? If you were in my place, wouldn't you?"

            "I'm not gonna even touch that one, Sugar. Still, you know you're going to have a hard time living this one down, Ranchan." Ukyo swallowed the urge to laugh, in part for fear it would sound hysterical, and edged back toward the door. He could hardly believe he had managed to keep his cool through the whole exchange. When he first walked in on the couple, Ukyo had felt like a giant fist had punched through his chest and ripped his heart out. He had instantly understood Akane's reaction to a similar surprise with Ranma and Fa Shen. Even with his mind made up to be supportive and understanding, though, it was difficult to keep from screaming and trying to tear the couple apart. They stretched the definition of masturbation past the point of credibility. It was not just that it was sex, it was the implication that Ranko did not need anyone else to be whole. Ukyo needed to leave before they became comfortable enough with him to resume what they had been doing. He simply could not take that. But, just when he thought he would make a clean exit, they stopped him. 

            "Ucchan?" Ranko queried, in stereo. 

            "Yeah, Sugar?" Ukyo paused, ready to turn and run. 

            "Are you… mad at me?" The timid note was back in their voices. 

            Ukyo took a deep breath and let it out. He shook his head and forced a reassuring smile to his lips. "You're not mad at me." 

            Onna and Otoko-Ranko blinked. They had become so self conscious as the discussion shifted to what they were in bed for, Ukyo's transformation had slipped their minds. The way Ukyo brought it back to their attention caused a little pang of hurt. Ukyo had genuinely been afraid of how Ranko would react to Ukyo making good on his "threat" to become a man for them--or in spite of them. "Mad? You expected me to be mad?" Onna-Ranko asked sadly. 

            Ukyo averted his eyes, rather than responding. Ranko looked to herself for the answer. She was not mad, as it happened. But maybe, under different circumstances, Ranko would have been angry at Ukyo for taking any chances with Jusenkyo magic. Instead, Ranko had been in no position to be critical of anyone else, when Ukyo revealed his transformation. Ranko was too distracted by a mortal dread of getting pounded to worry about the danger Ukyo had placed himself in. "I told you what I thought about it, what the risks were. The choice was never up to me, though," Onna-Ranko confided. "I'm worried for you, Ucchan. It makes me angry, but I'm not really angry with you."

            "Feeling's mutual, Ranchan," Ukyo turned and opened the door. "By the way, for all the good it might do with our crowd… You still ought to try locking the door when you're going to be… playing with yourself."

            As Ukyo slipped out of the room, Ranko and Ranko slumped against each other in relief and chagrin. Unavoidably, this brought their attention back to each other. Their bodies still ached and sang with arousal, despite the shock of Ukyo interrupting their mutual seduction. "So much for Ranma and Fa Shen watching our backs!" they muttered darkly. 

            Onna-Ranko sighed and reflexively ran her hand across Otoko-

Ranko's chest. Once again, she was struck by the wonder of touching him. It was so strange, how different it was to touch him, to see him through her eyes. To be on the outside of that body, rather than living within it. Even more awesome, was the effect of his touch upon her. Nothing she had ever experienced made her feel so connected to her body, so conscious of every fiber of her flesh. Never had she felt so delighted to be female. Unfortunately, she gained that at the cost of her own manhood. When his hand came up to brush her bangs out of her face, to give himself a clear view of her eyes, she ached to know what it was like to see herself through his. 

            Tilting her head back, she met his searching gaze. Like her, he was trying to bridge the gap, striving to make contact with the thoughts and feelings inside her. To span the gulf that deepened with every caress and confirm that they remained the same person at the core. 

            An unexpected benefit of their exploration, however, had been the chance for each of them to meet the person everyone else knew as Ranko. It had been a subtle shift in perspective, reminiscent of how Ranko had come to view Ranma and Fa Shen as people in their own right. Ranko had not wanted to devolve into male-type and female-type versions of the original, but the intimacy required to satisfy the teen's curiosity about sex forced Ranko to perceive that, where he or she was but half the physical reality of Ranko, both possessed the mind of the original. 

            Each of them encompassed the whole of Ranko, mentally. Divided, Ranko was much closer to being a "normal" person than s-he had ever been before. It was sort of a given, if s-he was equally capable of being a boy or a girl, Ranko could just as easily be both. Separated from each other, they were better adapted for world they lived in, but being exclusively male or female filled Ranko with a hollow ache. The couple was feeling it keenly as they held each other, one making the other painfully conscious of what he or she was not. It was worse by far than the distress of being a "freak" who flipped back and forth, never being entirely male or female. It was a pain that could only be salved in mutual embrace. Just holding each other was enough to ease that pain somewhat, but ultimately it was a trap. 

            The core of Ranko's identity was the fusion of male and female, the blending of Ranma and Fa Shen. On the surface, Ranko benefited from being both a boy and a girl at the same time. But not if that boy and girl existed as separate entities. Not if their intimacy reinforced their perception of each other as distinctly male and female individuals. It would be too easy to lose sight of the fact that they were the same person inside. They could easily cease to be the same person, while at the same time falling in love with a boy or girl who was, for obvious reasons, his or her perfect lover. 

            Neither of them had mentioned this to the other. They had both become conscious of it, however. As they had sensed the threat, and temptation, their foreplay had become muted, contemplative. Ranko was not one to run away from a challenge, so it did not even occur to the boy and girl to simply stop and give up on the idea of satisfying their curiosity about sex. There might have been other ways to burn off the temporary curse, but quite frankly, they wanted to do it this way. If worse came to worse, and their plan to reverse the twins curse failed, it was inevitable they would become a couple anyway. What difference would it make if the attempt caused them to fall in love then? If they did succeed, the lovers would be fused back into their original state. Ranko could certainly cope with the feelings that lingered; who could it hurt if Ranko loved herself a bit more passionately than the next person? 

            All things considered, the risks were acceptable. They did not even have to agonize over the possibility that their judgment had been impaired by their lust. Ukyo's interruption had given them a chance to collect themselves, to recover their wits and remember the point of this exercise. 

            As they studied each other, they reached a silent understanding. It was unlikely that they would choose being a couple over being the singular Ranko. In the heat of arousal, they brought out the boy and girl in each other, but outside of each other's arms, they would revert back to normal. Ranko would never fully adapt to a single gender. Besides, it might become a moot point. There was a very good chance that the act of intercourse would initiate the circuit, bridging their minds during the most intimate moments. That would shatter the illusion of being a couple. So ultimately, having sex together was just a means to an end, and not an end in itself. It was enough that events had offered them this unusual opportunity to satisfy their curiosity. It was something to enjoy, and then move on. She conveyed her understanding of this with a wry smile. He sensed the change in her and gently took her chin in one hand, bending close to kiss her. This was not one of the soft, succulent kisses they had lingered in before, but a hard, hungry probing of each other's deeper passions. 

            In moments they were lost to each other. Their hands reached out instinctively to caress each other exactly where and how their bodies most desired to be touched and manipulated. Every stroke was exquisite, every longing anticipated. It was entrancing. It was magic. It was a primal dance executed to perfection; thought and action woven into a seamless flow where awareness stood crisp and naked, bathed in pure pleasure.

            After wandering boldly across the silky surfaces of each other's bodies, depositing an intricate pattern of licks and kisses, their mouths returned to each other. Cradling each other's faces, they poured themselves passionately into probing osculation. Drinking in the taste of each other, savoring the sensation of their lips rubbing together while their tongues fenced in delightful mischief, the couple surged to the peak of arousal. But before they could position themselves to take the final step in consummating their union, the trance shattered. 

            Something within their minds snapped and their thoughts and emotions abruptly surged forth and overlapped. For a terrifying moment they hovered on the verge of oblivion as their consciousness threatened to spill through the cracks of reality into an unimaginable abyss. Ranko fought through the burst of panic, stubbornly fighting to regain coherent thought and perception. The sense of falling, or twisting around some impossible corner, terminated as Ranko's mind swiftly refocused only to find itself in full possession of both bodies. 

            A sudden, stark sense of isolation gripped Ranko, as s-he broke off the "couple's" last kiss. Physically "they" remained tangled in intimate embrace, yet it seemed as if the person each had held had evaporated, leaving Ranko holding onto nothing. The couple's intimate pose was rendered a mockery of the communion from which Ranko had been coldly ejected, leaving the teen's soul uncertain as to where its consciousness was seated. 

            / "What am I?"

            \ "Where am I?"

            The uncertainty escaped in whispers that blew across each other. It shocked Ranko to be able to simultaneously utter two different permutations of a single, incoherent thought. Neither form occupied Ranko's mind less than the other. Neither body commanded Ranko's full attention. The bodies Ranko inhabited suddenly seeming like the extremities of an otherwise invisible or intangible entity, the mind adapted instinctively to the dimensions of being split and twinned, sorting out the male side and the female side as automatically as it would left side and right side. Ranko slid his hand over her body, delighting the softness of her skin, and Ranko felt the thrill of his caress within her abdomen. The quality of that experience was no different than what any person might feel while touching themselves. Without reversing the twins' curse, the wedge dividing Ranko had spontaneously removed itself. 

            Ranko pushed herself back to regard her counterpart. The action seemed to shift the focus of Ranko's attention into her female incarnation. She did not grow less aware of being him, but rather, regained a sense of being seated within that body, instead of hovering about it. Blinking to adjust to that observation, she studied the young man in bed with her as if she had never seen him before. It was like looking in a mirror; she could feel herself looking back through his eyes. Focusing on the image in "his" mind's eye, she was suddenly in his skin looking at her. 

            He closed his eyes at the same time she did. This was a serious development. One Ranko needed to pause for a moment to sort out. For all the times Ranko had been either male or female, that first instant of being both had been a shock. Fortunately, previous experience with the circuit had given Ranko the experience to adapt to being in more than one place at the same time. It merely required a certain amount of thought to adjust to the disconcerting "out of body" quality caused by the perceptual overlap of both perspectives. Before confronting the problem this premature rapport presented, Ranko noted that, whatever had just happened, it only affected her/him. It had not bridged the gap normally separating Ranko from Ranma and Fa Shen. 

            Ranko took a couple of deep breaths. "Is this a good thing?" she asked herself. Now that she had adjusted to it, she could see the advantages of remaining like this. Split bodily and fused mentally, Ranko could be a boy and a girl full time, and not suffer over the sacrifice of one for the other. 

            "That depends on how permanent it is," he pointed out. 

            She smirked at having "him" answer her question. Obviously, "they" still retained a level of independence, in thought and action. Both brains worked on the question in silence before reaching a consensus. Somehow, it seemed unlikely this rapport would dissolve. The connection formed during the circuit faded as soon as Ranma and Fa Shen disengaged from each other. If the bridging of Ranko's minds was dependant on intimacy, then it should have ceased when the couple pulled apart. Of course it would take time to test that theory properly. 

            "I don't think I want to wait it out," she sighed. 

            "Well, if the original plan works, we will always be able to split like this once we've merged back together," he reminded her optimistically. 

            "So," she shrugged, brushing a finger along his forearm, marveling at the sensations that caused. She was grateful that being present in both halves did not neutralize the chemistry between "her" and "him". "They" should experience no difficulty with resuming where they left off, even with the lines between them erased. Of course, the habit of regarding another body as another person was difficult to break. It actually made it easier for Ranko to deal with him and her, if they assumed exclusive personas as Ranko-the-boy and Ranko-the-girl. Having "met" them both, it was not a difficult piece of mental gymnastics. The worst that might happen would be for Ranko to develop a habit of talking to herself. If she had not already, she smiled, while addressing her other self. "We should probably finish what we started. It's not like we didn't expect something like this to happen." 

            He smiled. No other response was necessary. 

            "Okay, that's just eerie," she murmured, as his hands resumed foraging for her most delicate and sensitive spots. She returned the favor, eager to regain the momentum of their seduction. Both had to make adjustments as they rekindled the fires within themselves. Only the fact that "they" had two gender opposed bodies to "work with" kept the experience of their masculine and feminine instincts operating simultaneously--cueing off of each other--from completely unnerving them. On the bright side, it left no doubt that Ranko would be able to experience sex--first hand, for the first time--from both perspectives. The boy in her would not be denied his feelings, nor the girl in him, hers. There would be no risk of creating a permanent rift between the divided embodiments. About the only thing left to be concerned about was, if the usual circuit did form, the whole experience would also be shared by Ranma and Fa Shen. 

            While Ranko would not wish to deny either, in fact, after the previous circuits, Ranko practically owed them for the times s-he had vicariously experienced their liaisons. There remained the other effects, the manner in which the experience would brand each of them with the experiences of the others. After the trauma Ranma and Fa Shen went through the day before, to sort themselves out after all the confusion caused by apparently trading places when they had sex, Ranko might well subject them to another round of identity crisis. The last union, Ranko felt, was probably directly responsible for causing the turmoil Ranma and Fa Shen endured the day before. 

            Ranko would hate to precipitate another crisis for his/her siblings. 

            Unfortunately, even the most prolonged foreplay inevitably left them no choice but to consummate their passion fully, as the pair of them became too worked up, too aroused, for further, coherent, rational thought. Their fears and concerns eventually dissolved into the heat of ardor, their bodies moving instinctively into position to engage in coitus. As happened the first time, when Fa Shen penetrated Ranma, the doors of consciousness and perception were blown off their hinges by the raw power unleashed as Otoko-Ranko seated himself within Onna-Ranko. 

            As always, that first thrust hit Ranko like a lightening bolt. Then there was a moment's pause as power flooded through them and a surge of new sensations flooded into Ranko's mind. Unfortunately, there was yet one more thing Ranko had failed to account for, which s-he discovered when the very next stroke caused another paradigm shift. Expecting to be overwhelmed by the enhanced sensations of intercourse, Ranko was profoundly shocked to regain his clarity of mind and find himself looking out of Fa Shen's eyes at the naked masculinity of Cinnamon moving to lower himself into the bath. The context of the scene, as well as Fa Shen's memories of everything since the last circuit, filtered into Ranko's mind between one blink and the next, revealing how the dragon became a man, and what the dragon had revealed to Nodoka and Fa Shen. But even as hot water restored the older female form Ranko recognized from her meeting with Cinnamon, she was recovering from the shock of finding herself standing naked before a shy Onna-Ryouga in Ranma's body, shuddering with the wave of pleasure and power that Ranko had unleashed through the circuit. 

            For a moment, Ranko struggled to find herself, disturbed that in the moment of truth she had somehow taken possession of her siblings bodies. Ranko was much too upset to wonder why, with a total of two male and two female bodies, her gestalt mind chose to default to the female gender as it sorted itself out. 

            "What… where…" her stuttered confusion spilled form the lips of all four incarnations, as her mind cast about for the personalities of Ranma and Fa Shen. "Why am I in all of us?"

            Cinnamon blinked and turned to look at the boy perched on a wash stool behind him. "Fa Shen?" he asked, instinctively focusing ki senses on Fa Shen-no-Ranko. He reeled back as the raw power emanating from that body slammed into his open mind. "What the…!?" he yelped, stumbling back and tripping into the hot bath. Reverted to female form, Cinnamon surged up from the bottom of the tub, spewing water, "What is going on here?"

            At the same time, upstairs in the boys' bedroom, Ryouga was cocking her head, "Ranma? What kind of aura is that?" She reached out a hand, extending less refined senses than Cinnamon possessed, and found her body responding automatically to the sexual nature of the energy spilling off her lover's form. "Oh… wow…" she gasped, feeling her insides twist hungrily. 

            "Ryouga!" Ranma-no-Ranko gasped, as the lost girl surged forward to seize her in an amorous grip. "Wait! Stop!"

            "If I'm here…" Fa Shen-no-Ranko continued to ponder, rising to his feet and making for the bathroom door, "…would they have shifted…"

            "…to here?" Onna-Ranko completed the thought, staring into Otoko-Ranko's eyes searchingly. She gasped as he continued to thrust into her, amazed to note that the alarm and confusion racing through the circuit barely disturbed the split twins' love making.

            "No," the boy half grunted. "I'm here too. I'm everywhere."

            "What happened to Ranma and Fa Shen?" the girl half moaned. 

            "I think Ranma's still in here," Ranma-no-Ranko announced, oblivious to the confused look Ryouga gave her as she looked inward. She shook her head ruefully. Having a conversation with oneself was one thing, but doing so while "she" was in three separate rooms was truly absurd, not even counting what two of them were up to at the time. Ignoring that, though, she focused on the mystery of what happened to Ranma and Fa Shen. Scrunching her face in concentration, she touched upon the core of Ranma's personality and found it struggling to cope with the overwhelming surge of power Ranko had unleashed.

            "Oh, crap!" Fa Shen-no-Ranko blurted, pausing at the bathroom door to wrap a towel around his waist, oblivious to Cinnamon rearing up out of the bath and moving to intercept him. Ranma-no-Ranko's discovery was quickly confirmed, and he suddenly realized their oversight. 

            "You are making no sense! Who are you talking to, and WHAT is with this display of power?" Cinnamon demanded. 

            "Ranma and Fa Shen never had to deal with the power!" Fa Shen-no-Ranko declared, still ignoring the dragon and her questions. His words echoed in the gestalt mind bridging the Saotome teens throughout the house. "Since I was always the one who dealt with that, the reflection of me in them stepped forward to handle it!" he hypothesized. Combined with the other effects of the circuit, the personality shifts ensured that Ranko dominated the gestalt completely. 

            "I didn't think of that," the split Ranko echoed together. As one they moved to disengage, and break the circuit. Unfortunately, the pleasurable friction proved more than the lovers brains were used to coping with. At the cusp of pulling out, rational thought abandoned the core couple and instinct took hold, driving him back into her. 

            Even in Ranma and Fa Shen's bodies the satellite Rankos were almost swept up by the passionate demands of the split incarnation. Ranma-no-Ranko found herself beginning to respond to Ryouga's questing fingers and roaming mouth. Fa Shen-no-Ranko found himself melting as Cinnamon stepped up behind him and locked a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. In his case, as Cinnamon wore Fa Shen's natural form, he nearly tripped her and proceeded to molest her. Fortunately, Cinnamon was not inclined to submit to such amorous attention, even if the man in question was putting off a raging "fuck me" vibe. 

            "Snap out of it!" Cinnamon slapped Fa Shen-no-Ranko smartly across the face. "What kind of game are you playing?"

            "Oh, this is no game," Fa Shen-no-Ranko winced, raising a hand to his cheek. "I'm… this is… Grrr! How can I explain this to you!? I don't have TIME to explain this to you!"

            "Just tell me what is going on."

            "I don't know. This isn't what normally happens with Ranma and Fa Shen!" he shouted, trying to shake her grip. "I need to get up there and pull my selves apart."

            "You seem to be coming apart pretty fine right here," the dragon quipped, giving him a little shake. She narrowed her eyes trying to diagnose the patterns of his ki through the blinding intensity. "Wait… Your selves? Ah, I see, you formed a rapport with your siblings! That's who you're talking to, isn't it? And this ki flow! Even a human could feel the way your incarnations are connected right now."

            "That's it! That's exactly it! We're all connected, so we're all me…" Fa Shen-no-Ranko exclaimed, relieved that the dragon seemed to have caught on. "Only, I never had to deal with the sex first hand, and they never had to deal with the power. I think that's why Fa Shen and Ranma switched to being me, and why the real me… er, us…?" Fa Shen-no-Ranko frowned. "Why we can't help ourselves! We can't stop ourselves!" he cried, frustrated with the attempt to put the couple's state of mind into words. "Oh, crap! Not you too!" he suddenly growled. Upstairs, Ryouga's attentions were starting to overcome Ranma-no-Ranko's resistance. "I have to drag Ryouga off of the other me now too! Would you please let me go?"

            "I will come with you," Cinnamon offered, barely hesitating as she tried to put things together in her head. "I'm still not entirely sure what you're going on about. Are you fully conscious of your other selves right now?" she asked, opening the door and marching Fa Shen-no-Ranko down the hall toward the stairs without releasing her grip on him. 

            He nodded. "I'm here, I'm also in Ryouga's room with her, and… together with me in my room. I'm trying to make myself stop, but it's just so gooooood," he moaned. The split Ranko was not entirely incoherent, but the physical bliss was overwhelming. The knowledge of self and the vicarious experience with sex that Ranko started this whole indulgence with, made for a pair of lovers who were doing everything with exquisite perfection. In a few more moments, there was going to be screaming as the couple really cut loose, then everyone in the village would know what was going on. "I've got to hurry!"

            Cinnamon released his arm and nodded compliance, rubbing her hand absently, amazed to note it was nearly burnt from being in contact with Fa Shen-no-Ranko's skin. As the two raced up the stairs, Ryouga was lurching back from Ranma-no-Ranko. The night Ryouga made love to Ranma, he'd considered her "too hot to handle" but now Ryouga was discovering that could literally be true. Fanning herself she looked up and was startled to see the other girl surrounded by a blazing corona of chi. "What the…" the lost girl muttered, fighting the urge to resume molesting her lover. 

            The brief respite from Ryouga, combined with the urgency from Fa Shen-no-Ranko ringing in her skull, allowed Ranma-no-Ranko to attempt to collect her wits. "It's the circuit, Ryouga! I've got to stop myself!" She jumped to her feet as her twin and Cinnamon burst through the door. Their shared thought was confirmed with a glance, and Fa Shen-no-Ranko reached out to grab Ranma-no-Ranko and speed with her down the hall to the room the Saotome siblings had been sharing. 

            Cinnamon, trailed by a frustrated and confused Ryouga, followed. As they passed the girls' room, the heads of Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and Mirror poked out of the doorway and they instantly joined the parade of naked bodies to Ranko's room. 

            "What is going on?" Mirror and Ukyo demanded. 

            "Doesn't anyone ever bother to get dressed before running around the house anymore?" Akane growled. 

            "Aiyaa! It look like room on fire!" Shampoo blurted as they closed on the door. She flinched as the twins burst through the door, expecting a wall of flame to shoot out and engulf them. 

            Akane, recognizing the peculiar aura that had engulfed Ranko the other morning at the amazon training ground, gasped and nearly swallowed her fist as she realized what was happening. "They're really doing it!" she squeaked in dismay and disbelief. 

            Cinnamon paused at the door with Ryouga, staring at the two glowing bodies entwined in passion before them. Even as she watched, the duplicates of the lovers also seemed to ignite with some kind of inner fire, fluorescing as the power being released by Ranko began to exceed what their bodies could handle. All four of them were glowing like fire-brands, but the aura of ecstasy blasting through them seemed to make them immune to whatever pain this consuming blaze was causing. "The… this is incredible. Look at the amount of ki they're shedding!"

            "Oh, god! Someone make them stop!" Ukyo gasped, getting a glimpse past Ryouga. 

            "We're trying!" shouted Ranma-no-Ranko. She squatted down next to the lovers, and directed her twin, "You grab him, and we'll pull them apart!"

            Fa Shen-no-Ranko nodded, reaching out to grasp the boy Ranko by the shoulders. From the look, and feel, of things, the couple were fast approaching climax. The rush of energy that would release might well be more than any of them could handle. He turned to stare at Cinnamon, "Get everyone out of here! This whole place is gonna blow!"

            Cinnamon did not need to hear any more. She reached out and grabbed Ryouga and Ukyo, dragging them away from the door while pushing the others back, "You heard him! Run!"

            As the group jumped to obey, Ranma-no-Ranko and Fa Shen-no-Ranko braced to move, each of them with their arms wrapped around their counterpart, girl to girl, boy to boy, hoping to cancel out any advantage of speed or strength their duplicate possessed. Unfortunately, they failed to account for the fact that the massive power flow vastly accelerated the decay of the temporary curse, or the fact that the ecstatic aura surrounding them was now charged with the magic to reverse a chuanshontsuniichuan curse. Nor did they realize that an orgasm was the natural trigger for such an erotic aura. Thus, they were not prepared for the shock they all experienced as the split twin reached climax. 

            The screaming of ecstasy the lovers could no longer restrain was joined by the voices of Ranma-no-Ranko and Fa Shen-no-Ranko, as the magic rushed through all of them. Magic that lacked anything resembling intelligence or will, yet was capable of recognizing the taint of the Chuanshontsuniichuan lingering on the mirror twins as no different than the touch of the instant twins curse, marking all four as being divided from the same source. In a blinding burst, the two couples merged into one, singular, shocked and exhausted Ranko. It happened so fast, amidst a flare of gold laced, pure white chi, that the details of the merge would have been impossible to make out. Courtesy of the endorphins streaming through the erotically charged bodies, the unbearable agony of this fusion was translated into an orgasm of unimaginable pleasure. 

            The explosion resulting from the dispersal of all the power summoned up by Ranko's activities blew the roof off of that wing of the manor. For several moments there was the random clatter of debris settling. Just as the cloud of smoke and dust was clearing, Ranko sat up shaking her head. Taking in the devastation, and discovering that she was in fact alone, she grabbed her head and moaned, "Oww…." Then she imagined Cologne's reaction and mournfully cried out, "Fuck me!" 


	14. Part Fourteen

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Bonus Volume

A. V. Morgan

Author's Note 

I'd like to apologize for the delay in releasing this chapter. December turned into an insane month for me, with a mortgage check bouncing, the bank foreclosing on the house, suddenly having to find a new place to live, pack, move and at the same time deal with increased hours at work and the holidays. Thus, what should have been a day's delay to complete a mere 1,000 words and a bit of proofing to do between posting the previous part and this one turned into a month of struggling to squeeze in a sentence here and there in my spare time. Fortunately, the holidays are over, the move is in the final settling-in phase, and I have a laptop on loan to allow me to work in whatever space I can find. Hopefully, this means the wait for the final part of Reflexes will be significantly less. Once again, I'd like to thank my readers for their patience and persistence. Happy New Year!

A.V. Morgan

Part Fourteen

When Cinnamon and Nodoka entered the vault next to the Matriarch's Manor, both the Musk and the amazons had placed an honor guard at the door to ensure there were no interruptions or interference by members of either tribe. Fa Shen had been permitted entrance by Cinnamon's specific instructions, but when she and Cinnamon both emerged, with Nodoka, in obvious male guise, the Musk guards had been alarmed and detached a messenger to inform their emperor and prince. That messenger arrived at the courtyard of the village council hall, where the Musk contingent had been settled to await the results of Cinnamon's examination of Nodoka, and was instantly escorted before Spice and Herb. The pair were busy discussing arrangements for a lunch banquet to feed the large contingent of Musk with a couple of amazon elders. They hastily wrapped up that negotiation and then turned their attention to the soldier's report. Spice and Herb fought to contain their displeasure at what the man revealed, demanding an explanation for Cinnamon's transformation. 

            "My Lord Emperor, it was discovered, after the three left, that there had been casks of Nanniichuan water stored in the vault. The other guards and I distinctly heard some kind of commotion just before the dragon and the amazons emerged from within. One cask was shattered, and the dragon, Cinnamon, was the only one soaked when they came out."

            "I see. Did they offer any explanation?" Spice inquired. 

            "Not as such. We did overhear the woman instructing her child to prepare a bath for the dragon as they departed for the manor."

            "I would assume there was an accident then," Spice mused aloud, picturing the chaos that would have occurred if the dragon had been cursed deliberately or in malice. For that matter, there was no logical reason for the amazons to inflict such a curse on a woman, even if that woman was previously inhuman. In fact, it was hard to believe the amazons would keep a store of nanniichuan water on hand at all. Unfortunately, it was obvious now that they had, and it was logical that it would be kept in a vault, and perhaps those who had cleared out the vault for the dragon's use had not recognized the casks for the danger they were. 

            "It still seems suspicious, Father," Herb glowered. In the wake of Ranko's departure, after denouncing Herb's challenge on the grounds of sabotage, Spice had taken Herb aside to explain the situation he had forced them into. In the event that Ranko could not be claimed for Herb's bride, the only remaining candidate would be Cinnamon. Not that either felt enthusiastic about Herb's chances with the dragon. However, Ranko had been made well aware of the criteria of Spice's command. It was possible Ranko or her siblings would have concluded that Cinnamon was a bridal candidate and taken steps to frustrate Herb out of spite.

            "This makes Cinnamon an unacceptable candidate," Spice noted aloud, clearly thinking along the same lines as his son. Strangely, he sounded more relieved than outraged. Turning to Herb, he pulled himself to his full height and declared, imperiously, "Ranko is now your only option, Son."

            Herb stared back at him, straining to keep his face composed. Since that had hardly needed to be said, what his father really meant was that Herb needed to act at once. That meant making good on his threat to conquer Ranko without a formal challenge. For the fight itself, it made no difference, but politically it might prove disastrous. Without the protection of a formal challenge, a fight with Ranko could precipitate a war with the amazon tribe. This would not be good for the Musk. The Musk remained a formidable power, but there were very few true, traditional Musk remaining. The modern Musk Empire was more of a financial or industrial empire, its warriors chosen and trained in the traditional ways from birth, but sufficient in number only to form the core of an elite strike force and provide the emperor and prince with their personal guards. The rest of the Musk were more of a cult or secret society than a brotherhood of warriors, composed of men who traced their ancestry to the empire, but who had been born scattered throughout Asia. 

            "You realize what that means?" Herb asked softly. 

            Spice maintained a stony reserve, allowing his eyes to sweep over the bulk of the Musk army. If he called upon the elite guard, he might be able to double his current forces. But, the amazons could not know that was the limit of the Musk's combat capability. "These women are no more eager for war than I, my Son. I think the threat of open war might be enough to force them to encourage Ranko to meet you in formal combat. I do not doubt that she may be willing to kill by this stage in your affairs, but I sincerely doubt she can stomach the thought of others dying for her." 

            Herb considered that for a moment before nodding. "Very well then. That leaves only the outsiders. They proved this morning, again, that they will intervene on Ranko's behalf, either out of loyalty to her or to protect their own interests. How do you recommend they be dealt with?"

            Spice gave his son an evil smile, "That is an interesting point. On one hand, it would hurt your bid to tame Ranko if you were forced to eliminate her friends, but at the same time she would be far easier to control if she were stripped of all of her allies before submitting to you. Naturally, it would be 'unfortunate' if these people were slain or injured accidentally as a result of interfering in the battle. Ranko would certainly be distraught, but who could really blame you for the folly of others, and it is a given that girl will be difficult to manage under any circumstances. When you 'claim a bride from the wild', you have no choice but to break her to your will. Eventually, you will be able to mold her into a suitable mate."

            Herb snorted. The challenge of breaking someone as spirited and impertinent as Ranko or her siblings was exciting to contemplate, but the fact remained, he did not particularly desire her for a mate. Also, it seemed wrong somehow to crush Ranko so ruthlessly, when he still owed her a debt for saving his life at Horiisan. It was somehow tragic, yet his loyalty to his father was unquestionable. He resolved to defeat her utterly, but nevermore to hurt or humiliate her once he fulfilled his father's wishes. Somehow, he would make her happy, make up for this seeming treachery. He just needed to make her understand they BOTH would be forced to try and make the best of a difficult situation. Not that that would be easy if he followed his father's advice. 

            "So, you suggest I simply kill her friends if they interfere?" Herb surmised, focusing on the problem of Ranko's allies. 

            "I suggest you reissue your challenge and demand resolution on the spot. We can bluff the amazons into conceding to a formal challenge, and if so, you are within your rights to dispatch anyone who interferes. Point out to them that they can expect no mercy if they dare. They are not amazons, so striking them down will not incur the wrath of the Joketsuzoku. The amazons, in turn, would not risk going to war over the deaths of outsiders, if they will not risk it for Ranko's sake," Spice counseled. 

            Herb shrugged and proceeded to summon his personal guard. "Then I shall go and confront her now. I can state my conditions before Ranko, and the Matriarch herself, at the same time."

            "Very well. I will speak to the Council of Elders."

            Father and son parted ways, one entering the village hall behind him, the other marching directly to the Matriarch's Manor. As he turned onto the path to Cologne's home, he looked up in surprise. Raw chi seemed to be flooding outward from the building ahead of Herb. It was a kind of energy that crawled along his flesh and awakened a hunger he rarely acknowledged in himself. Blinking in confusion, he increased his pace, curious about what was causing this display of power. He stopped short about twenty meters from the house when a group of people crashed through an upper-story window and dove for the ground. While Herb quirked an eyebrow--frowning, as the presence of two naked girls suggested the exodus was in dire haste--a heart stopping detonation of chi ripped away the roof of the dormitory wing of the manor.

            "What the-!?" the prince gasped, before the concussion wave hit. 

            Caught totally off guard, Herb could only pray that this was not some kind of ambush. Blinded, deafened, and stung numb from being blown off his feet and smacked into the wall surrounding the front courtyard, Herb wasted several long, precious moments recovering his wits. Moments an assassin would not have permitted him. As his vision cleared, he scanned the area, and noticed that he was not the only one picking themselves up and dusting themselves off. Some of the girls who threw themselves out the window ahead of the blast had been caught in mid fall by the shock wave and blown through the upper sections of the courtyard wall. Fortunately, they had been hit only by displaced air and not the chi propelled debris of the house. That would have been akin to taking a shotgun blast at close range, considering the fact that the upper half of the dormitory wing appeared to have disintegrated in the explosion. 

            The only person who seemed to have suffered no damage or discomfort was Cinnamon, standing naked and proud where she had landed beneath the recently shattered--now obliterated--window. The other naked girl, and the girl who typically disguised herself as a boy, were each cradled in one of Cinnamon's arms. The dragon had erected some form of chi shield to protect herself and her passengers, and was probably the only person who clearly witnessed the explosion. 

            Before Herb could confront her, the dragon dropped her passengers and leapt back up to the now devastated collection of guest bedrooms. Dusting himself off, Herb launched himself after her, tracking her to what would have been the bedroom across the hall from the one the dragon escaped through. Herb's demand for an explanation died stillborn, as he saw Cinnamon kneel beside a younger, but equally naked, red-headed girl. The dragon's words carried back to him in the eerie silence that followed the disruption. 

            "Uh, where's… um… the rest of you?"

            The Saotome girl did not respond for a moment, seeming to be staring off in shock. Gradually, she noticed the older girl's presence and started. "What have I done!?" she suddenly cried out, jumping to her feet. 

            "From the glimpse I got, I'd say you blew off a bit more than just steam, girl," Cinnamon joked, trying to calm her. "Um, I don't suppose you saw where the others got blown off to?"

            The girl seemed to jerk in pain, then sagged. "I… it… we… There's just me," she spoke softly. "I… I killed Ranma and Fa Shen!" Ranko collapsed to her knees and gasped. Tears and agony would not come, however. Ranko was caught in the numbing grip of shock. Even as she accused herself, an inner voice reminded her she WAS Ranma and Fa Shen. That's what being Ranko meant. But the guilt remained. By absorbing her reflections, there was no longer the possibility of sustaining either identity independent of herself. "Why did they do that? NO! Why did *I* do that!?" she demanded, correcting herself at once as she recalled why her reflections assumed her perspective to deal with the power of the circuit. But the answers to these questions would not come, as she knelt looking up at the dragon. Ranko cursed her self for not realizing Ranma and Fa Shen would be affected by the reversal curse. If she had not put their bodies into physical contact with her split bodies, they could not have been forced to merge with her when the chi curse imprinted them. 

            "Do what?" Herb finally interrupted, having approached unnoticed by the two girls. "What did you do, Ranko?" It was convenient of the girl to identify herself, even if the statement she made roused some alarming questions. "What do you mean, you killed Ranma and Fa Shen?"

            Ranko stiffened, whipping around to stare at Herb. Instinctively she leapt to her feet and brought up her guard as she spun around. Surprise melted into instant rage and she spat out, "What are you doing here!?" It was just perfect. He WOULD show up the instant she was weakened. The instant she lost the two most important people in her life, through her own ignorance and Herb's interference. She growled and narrowed her eyes dangerously, accusing, "Actually, if it wasn't for you, this never would have happened!"

            Herb was nonplussed. "I don't suppose you plan to answer my question, but I can easily answer yours. It is time for you to honor my challenge, and if your friends and the lives of the amazons mean anything to you, you will answer it honorably," Herb declared. 

            Cinnamon glared at the prince, stepping close to Ranko and placing a comforting and restraining hand on her shoulder. "Is this honorable, Prince Herb? Confronting her now, in the wake of an obvious disaster, when she is naked and in shock?" the dragon challenged acidly. 

            "Considering the amount of power she just displayed? The power that clings to her still?" Herb retorted, having taken the opportunity to gauge Ranko's ki and chi reserves. "I believe she is capable of fighting, noble dragon. Also, one would think that I was putting myself at a disadvantage, fighting her with all of her assets on display…"

            "You don't possess that weakness anymore, remember?" Cinnamon snorted, faintly insulted that he would claim a weakness he had bragged to her, just that morning, about overcoming. 

            Herb waved her accusation off. "It matters little. As longs as she agrees to the challenge, I have no issue with allowing her to dress and collect herself before the battle. Now, why are you acting as her advocate?"

            "Simple, once she has defeated you, I plan to make my own suit," the dragon admitted. 

            Ranko gasped, eyes snapping open wide, and jerked away from the taller girl. "What do you mean? What did I ever do to you!?" she cried. Unfortunately, Ranko had gained the memory of Cinnamon's revelation to Fa Shen, and combined with the memories of her childhood as Fa Shen, it was not hard to see why the dragon would take advantage of its new curse to claim the object of its fifteen-hundred-year obsession. "That's the final straw! I'm not putting up with this any more!" she shouted, twisting her head about to scan the debris of her room. Spotting her pack in a pile of wreckage where the closet had been, Ranko darted towards it. 

            Before Herb or Cinnamon could react, Ranko had snagged her travel pack and launched herself high into the air, rocketing away from the village. The two blinked in surprise and then turned to each other. 

            "That was one hell of a jump…" Herb remarked. 

            "Jump, hell…! I think she's flying!" Cinnamon gasped, stunned to witness such power an unconscious skill in one so young. 

            "Flying? At that speed? She'll burn herself out…" the prince argued. 

            "You question her power, dragonling? Look around you!" Cinnamon gestured broadly, a look of excitement and longing flickering over her features. She could see the prince unconsciously fighting the arousal caused by standing in the wash of Ranko's power. "I don't think she even realizes how much raw chi she's generating. She had to have pulled most of the energy of that explosion back into herself, or I doubt the village would still be here," Cinnamon frowned, resisting the urge to pursue Ranko--at least long enough to return to the bath and dress. It was highly unlikely that Ranko would burn off all this excess energy even to power something as extravagant as flight, so Cinnamon was confident she would be able to track her down later easily enough. Considering how negatively Ranko had reacted to Cinnamon's intention to pursue her, it might not be a bad idea to let her have some time alone. 

            Herb, however, chose not to exercise patience. "Her power is truly impressive, but I doubt she is able to use it efficiently. She will certainly be careless and clumsy in the use of this much power. She can't know her present limits, and I can use that to my advantage." He launched himself into the air after Ranko, ignoring the dragon and her ridiculous assertion. He had no intention of losing his fight with Ranko. The dragon was an idiot to permit Herb the chance to stake his claim first. 

            Cinnamon sighed as he flew off in pursuit. "Foolish boy," she muttered. Levitating a few feet over the remains of the upper story, she shifted into her native form, instantly dwarfing the manor and sparking cries of terror throughout the village. With the keen senses of a dragon, Cinnamon conducted a quick search of the area. It took only fifteen minutes to cover the entire village in an outward spiral search, and determine that there were no bodies to support Ranko's claim of having killed Ranma and Fa Shen. It was as if they had both ceased to exist. Returning to the manor and reverting to female, human form, she entered the building to collect her clothes and ponder the mystery of what had really happened. 

            Emerging fully dressed from the bath, she confronted Cologne, Nodoka and the teenagers in the front yard. "Can anyone here explain how three of the Fa Shen incarnations could simply vanish in Ranko's blast?" she demanded. 

            This prompted a quick summation of the manner in which Ranma and Fa Shen had been split off from Ranko, and how Ranko was twinned. Ukyo volunteered a quick explanation of Ranko's plan to restore herself to her untwined state, and Cologne deduced, after getting a description of the last moments in Ranko's room before the explosion, that the chi blast had been infected with the shed, chuanshontsuniichuan reversal curse--guessing that the magic treated Ranma and Fa Shen as additional byproducts of the salted curse.

            "All that would matter, I suppose, was that all four of them were divided by similar magic from a single source," Cologne concluded amidst stunned and horrified gasps from Akane, Ryouga and Ukyo. 

            "What about Ranma?" Ryouga cried desperately. 

            "What about Fa Shen?" Akane echoed anxiously. 

            "Why would Ranko think she killed Ranma and Fa Shen, if they all just merged together?" Cinnamon puzzled, while sorting through all the details provided to explain the situation. For someone who had lived for so long with a Jusenkyo curse, it was startling to discover so many new things about the magic of the accursed springs and the products created from them. "If these chi based curses can be reversed, wouldn't it be simple enough to bring them both back?"

            Ukyo, still in temporary male form, looked up from his own contemplation, and finally voiced the question he had been restraining, "Where is Ranko now? Why did she take off like that, without explaining anything?"

            Cinnamon paused from her ruminations, to say, "Oh, I forgot to mention that. Herb arrived just after I went back up to check on her. He went on about it being time for them to fight their marriage duel. When I told him I would be challenging her, after she defeated him, she got upset with both of us and took off. He chased after her and I stopped to look for her siblings." 

            Everyone stared at the dragon in disbelief, shocked at the matter-of-fact way she declared her intentions toward Ranko. 

            "Are you insane!? You challenged her!?" Ryouga and Akane shouted. 

            "Well, no. Not yet. She hasn't defeated Herb yet," she corrected, with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

            "You can't challenge her!" Ukyo cried in dismay. 

            "Oh? Why is that?" the dragon looked curious. 

            "You… you just can't!" Ukyo, Akane and Ryouga all chorused. 

            Cologne cleared her throat. This drew everyone's attention to her. Holding up a cautionary hand, she offered, "Before you start fighting, I need to point out that there are a number of things yet to be settled. Such as, finding out if Ranma and Fa Shen can be split off from Ranko again. If it turns out that they can not be recovered, their marriages with Ryouga and Akane would devolve onto Ranko. It has already been established that Ranko is a blend of the two."

            "What do you mean, if they can't be recovered!? Why wouldn't they be able to split up again!?" Ryouga panicked. Once again, the threat of losing the one she loved had reared its ugly head, and Ryouga could not stand it. 

            Cologne sighed. "Please, contain yourself, Ryouga. This is a troubling development, but nothing has been tested or proven yet."

            "I am curious about this too," the dragon pointed out, referring to the question she had asked before Ukyo interrupted. 

            "I suspect that Ranko fears the same thing I do," the old woman confided edgily. Clearing her throat, she summarized what she had picked up and concluded about the incident, "The trigger for the fusion seems to have been the climax of passion. An orgasm naturally releases the energy built up in sex to trigger conception. This accident has to be a result of that. The aura they built up at the critical moment was white-gold; an aura of ecstasy and love. That suggests that an aura of hatred and agony might be the trigger to split Ranko again, but…" Cologne trailed off with a sigh. 

            "But what?" the others asked, clinging to every word. 

            "Curses of the same type generally do not stack. If the instant curse on Ranko reversed the effect of the Mirror of Broken Souls, the chi curse she imprinted herself with might not have the capacity to produce the two couples it merged. It might only split Ranko back into male and female, or it might produce identical twins with mastered curses. Whenever possible, Jusenkyo magic simplifies things like that," Cologne warned. 

            Cinnamon nodded. "I would concur, based on my own studies."

            "So… That's it? Ranma and Fa Shen are… dead?" Akane cringed. 

            "No more than Ranko is. They are all one and the same, it's just a matter of having enough of Ranko to go around." Cologne produced her pipe and lit it. The fight between Ranko and Herb might provide some answers. It would be a wonder if an aura of hatred and agony did not emerge in the course of the battle certain to evolve between those two. It served no purpose to try and prevent their contest. Now that Ranko had circumvented the prince's sabotage attempt, the grounds for invalidating Herb's challenge had evaporated. There was nothing left to protest. She was strong and whole, and Herb had pushed Ranko to the utter limit. Even someone as naïve and forgiving as she was had a breaking point, and then all bets were off. 

            Ukyo slammed his palm on the table. "We'll worry about this later! Right now, we have to do something about Herb! I can't believe he'd go after her so soon, especially after something like this!"

            "I can't believe you'd think of interfering, Ukyo," Cologne criticized. "If what Cinnamon says is true, the poor boy doesn't have a chance against Ranko right now. It's best to let them get it over with once and for all."

            "Hey, I'm a true believer in Ranchan! Ranma or Ranko, Ranchan never loses in a serious fight! But hasn't everyone been saying that Herb plays for keeps? Do you believe he wouldn't try some dirty trick or cheat in order to win? Is it really worth the risk of him beating Ranko?" Ukyo entreated angrily. 

            "Herb needs to have that chance, or he will never let up. Until he loses this challenge, he has no other options," Cinnamon stated coolly. 

            "I can't believe you, Old Woman!" Ukyo barked at Cologne, jumping up and turning to her friends and rivals. "Are all of you gonna sit around here and listen to this crap when Ranko needs us?"

            Ryouga stood up with grim determination. To everyone's surprise, Mirror stood barely a second after. Shampoo and Akane exchanged looks for a moment before standing in turn. Akane stepped forward and stated fervently, "Suddenly, it feels like old times. Ranko may be a pervert and a jerk, but she's our perverted jerk! More importantly, we're her friends. Let's show that arrogant prince what it means to mess with Ranko's friends!"

            Cinnamon looked from them, to Nodoka, and finally to Cologne. "Are they always like this?"

            "When they're not trying to kill each other over her?" Cologne smirked. Shaking her head, she turned to the teenagers, "It might not be a bad idea to watch Ranko's back for her. Try not to get yourselves killed in the process, and… don't let yourselves be used against her. You simply cannot afford to underestimate Prince Herb. Ranko is the only one of you who is truly safe in a fight with him." 

It took a while for Ranko to realize that the ground was not getting any closer. Her emotional state was so wild and chaotic, her temper so raw, even the passage of time barely registered. Inevitably, however, she was forced to notice the fact that she was literally flying. When it hit her, she was so surprised her aura flickered out for an instant causing her to begin plummeting to earth. As her aura surged forth again, the unconscious command she had been exerting to sustain her flight did not return with it. Voicing a squawk of panic, Ranko crashed through the canopy of the forest she had been hurtling over, instinctively raising a sphere of chi to shield herself from an onslaught of branches and the jarring collision with the ground. The sudden impact formed an oblong crater and scattered dirt and debris throughout the clearing she came to rest in. Fortunately, her shield held, cushioning her body and softening her landing to the point where she might have just thrown herself down on a bed. 

            "Oh, man," she groaned, shaking her head and picking herself up. Taking a look around, once she got back to her feet, she noticed the crater she had made and blinked in amazement. As fast as she had been going, there at the end, she had expected to become a smear along the forest floor. She shuddered once in reaction to that image, then turned her attention to the pack she had balled herself around at the last moment. 

            Frowning, as a cool wind blew over her skin and reminded her of her nudity, she opened the pack and pulled out a change of clothes. While slipping into panties and a sports' halter, she reflected on what she had just been doing. "I can't believe it! I was actually flying!" an unbidden smile of excitement and delight spread across her lips, as the wonder of that realization temporarily displaced the anger and grief resulting from absorbing her other selves. Unfortunately, her next thought was to wonder how she had accomplished the feat, and that shifted her focus to the power now coursing through her. With a start, she realized that the merge had not broken the circuit! She had been locked in intercourse when the four of her fused into one. 

            "What the-!?" she gasped. Her feelings of guilt and shame suddenly multiplied as the notion that she had gained the full power of the circuit at the cost of Ranma and Fa Shen crystallized. "Ohmygod. What have I done?" she cried out in despair. The emotion summoned a fresh surge of power. 

            Ranko squeezed her eyes shut tight, fighting to bring herself under control. Mechanically, she continued to dress and then re-secured her pack for traveling. To discipline her emotions, she carefully analyzed her situation and the consequences of her fusion. Her first comment to herself about her situation brought an ugly frown to her face. "I'm running away," she observed with mild disgust. Facts danced in her head for a second, and she spat out, "I may not be that lazy panda's kid in fact, but I sure seem to be his kid in spirit!"

            She growled and slipped her arms through the pack's shoulder straps. She was not just running away from Herb and Cinnamon, she noted miserably. She had fled from the scene of the disaster as much to avoid the reaction of Ryouga and Akane, or Ukyo and the others, as out of frustration over the escalating efforts of those who wanted to marry her. Everything was a mess. Ukyo had turned herself into a man. Mousse had turned himself into a girl, after betraying her to Herb--like Akane, infecting himself with the ghost of an instant curse. Ryouga was stuck as a girl and needed Ranma's "encouragement" to regain his manhood, and Cinnamon intended to exploit her new found manhood to join the race to win Ranko. Everyone wanted a piece of her, and each of them had paid dearly for the privilege, but now there was less of her to go around. That last point caused her the most grief because, in spite of her guilt and shame, she was secretly pleased to be all together in one piece. 

            "I'm happy," she slurred miserably, fighting the onset of tears. That realization was undeniable. After watching Ranma and Fa Shen's identity crises, and suffering another split, the whole notion of divvying herself up to meet all the demands on her had begun to seriously rankle. "I'm actually relieved to be whole again." It figured, what was probably the best thing for her was the worst thing that could have happened. As far as it concerned Ryouga and Akane, who she loved, what she had done was horrible. Unforgivable. At the same time, Ranko no longer had to keep herself "one incarnation away" from either of them. She did not have to suffer as Ranma walked away with Ryouga, or as Akane began to embrace her relationship with Fa Shen. 

            "They're gonna hate me for this!" Ranko cried. 

            It also hurt to know that Ukyo, and even Shampoo--who she had sex with as Fa Shen--were not even factored in. Knowing now what it was to love, knowing how much those two loved her, in part or in whole, only added a new dimension of anguish for her to struggle with. She did not return their love, but Ranko did not honestly know if she COULD not return their love, or if she simply could not AFFORD to return their love. Every time she looked in their eyes, they were begging Ranko to give them a chance to win her heart, and every time Ranko denied them. They were her friends, but she resented their demands almost as much as she abhorred the intentions of Herb, and now Cinnamon. 

            But, running away was no solution. Even if she could not fix the mess she was in, it was damn time she did something to keep it from growing any worse. It was already more than she could handle, even if she still had Ranma and Fa Shen to share the load. Unfortunately, by using them to liberate herself, Ranko had only made her problems worse. Exploiting their presence had merely been a different form of running away. 

            Ranko tightened her fist. 

            Reverting to this singular state changed everything. 

            For the first time, Ranko stood in a position to truly take her destiny into her own hands. There was no need to divide her life up between different aspects of herself. No need to distance herself from her past AS Ranma and Fa Shen, or present herself as a mere echo of them. No need to pretend that this was not her life or that she could not claim her right to it. It was a good time to start fighting back, beginning with the fight she could not have run away from no matter how much she wanted to. Herb was certain to chase her down and try forcing her to marry him. She was mad enough at that to really look forward to fighting him. Ranko cringed immediately after that thought, feeling her resolve waver even as she built it up. It was not enough to just fight. It was not enough to win. Even if she did beat him down, those stupid amazon laws would still remain. No matter how often she fought and won, she would always have to endure some man trying to force her into marriage. 

            "Like being married to Ryouga AND Akane isn't enough!" she growled, accurately predicting the ruling of the council in the case of her fusion. Which was a problem for Ryouga and Akane as much as it was for her. Without even begging the question of whether they could or would share her, neither of them was any more ready for marriage than Ranko was. For that matter, Ranko had never truly been defeated at either of their hands. The marriages were based on misapprehension, but the feelings that were strung between them were real. Ranko would love to reject the former and embrace the latter, but rejecting the marriages would just encourage people like Herb and Cinnamon--who were nothing to her. 

            "I swear, it'd be simpler to just get knocked up by some stranger, have the baby and claim matriarch status!" she griped, turning to face back toward the village. That was the real key to power and status among the amazons: Motherhood, and strong descendants. Mothers were exempt from the marriage laws, having fulfilled their duty to strengthen the tribe. The real power of the elders came from the success of their blood lines, the proof of their progeny. Ranko shook her head, "Man. There's got to be a better way to stop this insanity than bring a kid into the middle of it! If I'm not ready for marriage, I totally ain't ready to be a mom. But that's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what Mom wants. That's what Herb and Spice want. That's that Pop and Tendo-san want.

            "It was never really about me," Ranko spat, feeling somehow betrayed. "All this pressure about marriage, it was always about havin' kids, providin' heirs, buildin' a legacy. My feelings never mattered!" Thoughts and emotions began to feed on each other, fueling a storm surge of chi. Ranko noticed it as the aura she was generating began to spiral around her, leaving her behind in a sheltered eye of calm. It was a deceptive calm, one charged with dangerous intent.

            Ranko took a deep breath and fought to compose herself again. 

            Once her emotions were back under her control, she reexamined the idea. She had come close to deciding to have a child just to spite everyone. Fortunately, she had realized the idea was ridiculous. Just losing her virginity had cost her, cost the people she cared for, too much. She was just fooling herself. All the protection that matriarch status offered would not fix the mess she was in now. Getting knocked up in the lame hope of gaining that protection would cause a new world of chaos and hurt. And, ultimately, what would be the point? How much difference would one kid make when half of the bloody amazons were indirectly spawned from her--via the Nyanniichuan--anyway?

            Ranko's head jerked up. 

            "That's it…" she murmured, just before an alarm flashed through her skull, forcing her to dodge acrobatically through a barrage of coruscating spheres of focused chi. For the next six seconds, she twisted, leapt, rolled and pivoted madly to evade the opening assault from Prince Herb. Somewhere in the first dozen evasions, she was forced to strip off her backpack and toss it deep into the woods to keep it from tripping her up. She had barely enough breathing space to snarl in irritation over the fact that he was shooting at long range from the air, as he flew in to confront her. The clearing she was in had grown by an acre, and become cluttered by the trunks of a few dozen trees, by the time he reached it and touched down across from her. 

            "Herb!" she hissed angrily, flaring up dangerously. 

            "Ranko," he inclined his head. To her surprise, he held out his hands to offer a temporary truce. When he saw her hesitate, he spoke, "Out of respect for having saved my life, I must offer you the chance to surrender."

            "Are you kidding!?" she shouted, completely dropping her guard. When he merely arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, she composed herself. If he had not been serious, he would have attacked in that moment. Her eyes hardened angrily. "Forget it, Herb. There's no point to this." As she took a breath to explain what she had just realized, he suddenly vanished in a streak of motion. Her fierce rejection was apparently sufficient cause to annul the "truce" and spur him to combat. A cloud of dust and leaves whipped up in the wake of his accelerated charge, further obscuring vision. 

            She instantly raised her guard, "Damn it!"

            Her arms barely intercepted the blow that solidified from the blur of his attack. Catching the impact on her cross-braced forearms, she was launched off her feet to crash into a tree on the edge of the clearing. Rebounding off the trunk, she narrowly dodged his follow-up strike as he raced in to press his advantage. Chunks of wood and bark exploded through the space she just vacated as his punch collided with her after image. 

            Channeling chi through her body, down her legs, she desperately rocketed away, trying to put some distance between them before he could launch himself at her again. Clearly, he was taking this fight seriously, striking as hard and fast as he could to overwhelm her. 

            "Herb! Listen to me!" she demanded, narrowing her eyes to track him as he recovered from his blow and hurtled back at her. 

            He came into focus again right in front of her, planting his feet to add leverage to the speed of his next blow. Ranko leaned left just enough to allow his fist to miss her face, and snapped off an amagurikan barrage into his exposed flank. 

            "Hyaaaaaa!" she cried out, forgoing the effort of naming her attack. 

            Herb grunted as the rapid fire punishment made itself felt through his armor. Riding the force of the blows back a pace or two, he retorted, "Nothing you could say at this point would interest me!"

            "But there's no reason for us to fight!" she cried, stepping back into a purely defensive posture. 

            "I thought you were not going to surrender?" he challenged, summoning his chi while levitating up and slipping around to flank her. 

            "Damn it, Herb! If you really want to fight, I won't stop you, but at least hear me out!" she shouted, pivoting to keep him in front of her.

            "You can't stop me. Certainly not with pathetic excuses or distractions!"

            He followed his retort with the onslaught of an amped up Ryuu Sei Hishou, ricocheting dozens of hard hitting globes of energy off the surrounding rocks and trees to hammer her from every side. Ranko took the first couple of blind siding blows across her chin and hip, before summoning up a wall of chi around herself to ward off his attacks. That seemed to work, until he maneuvered directly over head and dropped a veritable bomb straight down on her. Taking the blow on the crown of her head, she was crushed to her knees, and nearly keeled over as her limbs went weak for an instant. 

            Ranko exploited the urge to collapse by relaxing into a fluid roll, to remove herself from ground zero, as Herb streaked downward in a chi-cloaked chisel kick. The ground was split open into a wide fissure by the knife edge of his foot as it pierced the earth. Ranko kept rolling until she was clear of the rift, where she coiled back up to her feet. If Herb continued to press her this hard, Ranko could soon have more to worry about than merely losing to him. One misstep or bit of mistiming and she could very easily become crippled or maimed to boot. Shaking her head and jumping back to give her some distance she began to wave her arms for his attention. "Hold it!'

            "Not a chance!" Herb sneered, rushing forward again. 

            "I'm serious, Herb! You need to stop for a sec and listen!" Ranko growled, flaring her aura mightily to reinforce her command. 

            "I know better than to give you time to think, Saotome," Herb chided with a dry smirk. Still he slowed his advance a touch. 

            "It's you who needs to stop and think! Do you have any idea what just happened to me? Do you have any idea what any of it means?"

            "I assume you think whatever you have to say will somehow change the outcome of this contest."

            "I know it does!" Ranko shouted in growing irritation, dodging casually as he closed the range and began a series of strikes. 

            "If you are so certain then, perhaps you should wager the difference for me to hear you out," Herb challenged coldly, maintaining the rhythm of his attacks.

            "What? What do you mean?" Ranko blinked and recoiled. Her shock almost caused her to take a hit to the temple. Once again she was forced to retreat. 

            Once separated again, the combatants paused. A breeze stirred up a cloud of leaves stripped loose from the fallen trees of their battle field. The dragon prince relaxed his guard to study the form of his opponent more intently, more appraisingly, while considering her question. He was also reflecting upon her responses to each of his recent provocations. He had known that Ranko would be less susceptible than Fa Shen to manipulation through amazon law, but she was also proving to be less hot headed than Ranma. She was a slippery fish, and he needed to hook her more securely before he could reel her in. Anticipating the basis of her protest against this fight, it was simple enough to bait her into making a more binding wager. "It is becoming clear to me that it is useless to try to claim you against your will. I sincerely doubt that amazon law is sufficient to compel you to marry even if I defeat you. That is evident in your protests. Thus, before I condescend to hear whatever excuses you presume would negate the value of this fight, I require that you guarantee the stakes of this fight on your honor."

            Ranko took a sharp breath. "You mean, I gotta agree to marry you if I lose before you'll let me tell you why I don't gotta marry you if I lose?"

            "That is correct," Herb nodded regally. 

            "That's insane!" Ranko exploded. 

            "Those are my terms," Herb snapped, shifting his balance to resume the offensive. 

            "Wait!" Ranko held up her hand. If she gave her word, Herb would have the leverage to force her into marriage. Only an immediate obstacle would foil that gambit. "What if I'm not even available to marry?" she tried to counter, cringing at the though of trying to hide behind Ryouga or Akane. "I can't promise to marry you if I'm already married to someone else!" 

            Herb was nonplussed. "Are you suggesting you have been defeated since we last spoke?"

            "I'm just trying to tell you, I merged with Ranma and Fa Shen when I was merging with my guy side!"

            Herb blinked and stormed forward. "This is nonsense! You were locked! You can't have merged with your male half!"

            Ranko blushed but stood her ground. "That shows what you know, Herb! Because you locked me in that split state, I had no choice but to try and infect myself with a chi curse based on the instant!" Seeing the look of confusion on his face, she rapidly explained the things she and her friends had discovered starting with Ryouga being branded with the ghost of his pig curse. Herb listened in spite of himself, but unlike a normal Jusenkyo curse, Ranko could not easily demonstrate the new curse to prove it. Instead, she asserted, "Let's heat up some water. If I turn back into a guy, that will prove what I am telling you."

            Herb glared at her in mingled disgust and frustration. With jerky movements, he produced a flask of water from the folds of his shadow and proceeded to heat it with his chi. This situation was not something Herb could have anticipated, but it still presented useful leverage. "If what you are saying is true, you still owe me for listening to your explanation. If you are fused with Ranma and Fa Shen, and thus obligated to honor their marriages to Ryouga and Akane, I am still within my rights to challenge them to secure my claim to you. I would consider accepting your word to honor a union with me in return for giving you my assurances that I will not slay or grievously injure your other suitors." 

            Ranko looked up at him unhappily as he restated his terms. She was less than pleased to have him remind her of the threats he had made against her friends, family and the amazons when he confronted her at the manor. Swearing under her breath while holding out her hand for the heated flask, she muttered to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! I shouldn't have involved them!" Ryouga was an impressive martial artist, the closest thing Ranko had to a peer in the art, but he would not fare well against Herb, and Akane did not stand a chance. Her brain revved into high gear, painting an ugly picture of the ways the people she cared about could be used to force her bow to him. Suddenly this fight had a more important purpose. Instead of fighting merely to win, she had to somehow secure the safety of everyone she cared about. That would take some smart wording, she realized. Unfortunately that was never her strong suit. Herb finished heating the water, but pulled the flask out of her reach as she tried to grab it. "Hey!" she blurted aloud. 

            "Your word, Ranko. Give me your word or this parlay is over," Herb grated. 

            Ranko snatched the flask out of his hands and growled, "Fine. But this is a one time offer. If you can defeat me today--honorably--and you promise on whatever you hold sacred not to hurt the people I care about, no matter who wins, I'll marry you. Not that it really matters, since I am NOT going to lose." With that, she tipped the open flask over her head. To her relief, the familiar tingle of transformation passed through her, once she remembered to "unlock" the chisuiiton effect. 

            Herb's disappointment at seeing Ranko assume male form was unmistakable. Still, he had her hooked, he smiled and returned, "You have my word."

            "That reminds me, you have to hear me out now, so let's start with this," Ranko gestured to himself. "I will always be as much a man as I am a woman, and now there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Do you really want to be married to another guy, Herb?" he offered an evil smirk. 

            "It is an inconvenience. All that matters is that the ability you have to lock yourself in female form makes you capable of bearing children to term."

            "Which brings up the topic of sex," Ranko leered. Something in the back of his brain was warning that it might not be a good idea to bait the dragon prince like this, but Ranko felt oddly reluctant to reveal his real reason for disputing the challenge, now that Herb had made it a personal challenge. All Ranko could really do now was try to discourage Herb from wanting him altogether. "Have you really given any thought to what it would mean to be married to me? Have you stopped to ask yourself if you can be in an intimate relationship with someone you forced into it?"

            "I do not care to discuss this," Herb spat, looking away. "You seem to be under the impression that I am under any less duress than you."

            "Now who's making excuses?" Ranko retorted softly. 

            "You know nothing. The obligations of my station and heritage are beyond your grasp."

            "Then explain it to me!" Ranko shouted. "Explain to me how being the prince of some dead empire gives you the right to mess with my life!?"

            "You would not exist if not for that 'dead' empire, Saotome," Herb reminded Ranko acidly. "You and I are both products of the same culture. At least I have the decency to honor and respect my heritage and ancestry." Herb was finding this discussion less and less palatable the longer he looked at Ranko's male countenance. In a gesture of pure spite, he produced another flask of water, slashing it open with a knife drawn from his left sleeve, to douse Ranko with its chill contents. 

            "Hey!" she sputtered after taking the splash right in the face. "What was that for? Can't take me as a guy?"

            "Do not delude yourself. I simply have no desire to have this battle with another man. I might forget my intentions and kill you."

            "Maybe I should return the favor," Ranko fumed, wiping her face and slicking her bangs out of her eyes. Not surprisingly, he used the moment her vision was obscured to launch another attack. Ranko was forced to twist and leap evasively for several moments, protesting angrily, "Hey! You're supposed to be listening to me! Dammit, Herb!"

            "What more is there to say, Saotome? I have your word, you have mine. Is there anything else to dispute?"

            "Not that you'd care, I see. Just remember, you only get this chance, then me and mine are off limits!"

            "Don't be a fool. I am bound to leave your loved ones alone, but even if I lose I will continue to pursue you as my bride, by whatever means necessary."

            Ranko was forced to choke on her response, as her anger caused her to surge forward in anger and take a stiff kick in the ribs. 

            "You almost make it too easy," Herb grinned, following up on his advantage to drop her to her knees and then whip kick her from the boulder she had perched on, spinning toward a pile of shattered stone and wood. Leaping up, he came arcing down to deliver a combination of chi bombs and a descending kick. 

            "You wish! That's your last cheapshot, Herb!" Ranko shouted, twisting her body, deflecting a pair of chi spheres, then launching herself up in a cross counter kick. Gritting her teeth, she braced for what could become the hardest fight of her life. She had done her best to reason with him, and even if he never left her alone, she had his word that everyone else was protected from him. It was a relief to stop holding back, especially since she could not afford to remain on the defensive against Herb. Sensing--more than seeing­--him closing in again, she twisted herself into a whirlwind of kicks and chops. Each maneuver positioned her inside his guard, forcing him to stumble back and give ground, remaining unbalanced, or accept a string of coordinated hits, as kick flowed into punch, into knee ram, into elbow strike, topped off by brutal back hand. 

            It took Herb about ten seconds to realize he did not want to be in close fighting range of the red-headed Cuisinart. Unfortunately, it took him about ten minutes to extract himself from the intricate ferocity of her dance. Maybe if he were in female form, he might have had the speed necessary to effectively block or counter-strike and regain the initiative. Instead, he was forced to offer her a delicate target, absorb her attack, and then trap her in a bind where his superior strength and leverage could be put to use.

            Even then, she writhed and twisted like an eel, practically slithering up his front until she could escape by planting one foot on his shoulder and use the other to launch herself off the top of his head--kicking away from him as she sent him down in a face plant. For a few moments, Herb had to fire off a blind string of chi blasts, and more dangerous Hitou Ryuu-zan Ha chi blades, targeting by the sound of her rebounding from tree trunk to boulder to overhanging branch. It was about this point in the battle when Herb realized he was actually enjoying himself. 

            "It's nice to see you haven't lost your touch," he quipped, finally regaining his feet and coming around properly to track her as she flew from perch to perch. He had to throw himself to the side, however, since she had lined him up for a chi blast of her own as the momentum of his strafing run died. 

            "That's because I'm the best," she snapped right back. 

            "Feh. A true warrior doesn't try to take credit for luck!" he sniped. 

            Ranko had continued to rocket along, flying hard into a tree top, her feet braced against a long, sturdy branch, feeling it bend under her weight and momentum, then riding the recoil straight back into Herb's face. As she shot forward, her hands snapped apart, dividing the ball of chi she had been building up after her last shot into ring of negatively charged energy and a knot of compressed positive chi. "Wrath of Heaven!" she shouted, with an evil smile. 

            Herb's eyes widened as he realized he was grounded in the center of the clearing, unable to escape the noose of this devastating attack. His only avenue of escape was through the loop. Recognizing this as a potential fight stopper, he had instants to make a difficult, potentially damning decision. Just as his movement was dictated by Ranko's attack, so were hers. One hand slipped instinctively into his sleeve, where he had resheathed his dagger. It was the only advantage he had. Snarling, he gathered his chi and tried to rocket through the center faster than Ranko could close the trap. 

            "Snapping Jaws!" she cried, already on a course to intercept him, releasing the black bolt still in her hands directly into his face with an echoing clap. As the positive charge lanced through him, the ring of ethereal fire discharged into Herb, unleashing its elemental fury in a blinding disk of lightning. Ranko twisted and writhed in mid air, passing a hairsbreadth from Herb's form as she slithered past him, threading the eye of her own attack. As she flashed by, he landed a numbing blow to her exposed abdomen. That was all he had time for, however, as momentum carried them off in opposite directions.  

            Ranko flipped over gracefully to land poised on her toes, facing her opponent. She caught a glimpse of Herb plummeting senseless to the ground, wreathed in lightning, while discovering she felt oddly lightheaded. Herb must have knocked the wind out of her, she realized. Attempting to fill her lungs, she was surprised to find she could not, and shocked that the attempt sent a searing lance of pain from her naval to her collarbones. The root of the horrible pain was right where he had struck her. She raised a hand reflexively to explore the injury, unwilling to take her eyes off her foe while at the slightest disadvantage. Then her hand encountered the hilt of the wicked dagger he had impaled her with. The reflexive gasp sent another tear of agony through her, as she stared down in absolute disbelief. 

            "You stabbed me!" she mewled, wasting what shallow breath she had. The hilt was angled, intersecting her midriff just above her navel and indicating the presence of a blade pointed mercilessly toward her heart. Realization brought restored sensation, and Ranko knew the knife pierced her diaphragm and punctured at least one of her lungs. Her acrobatics had twisted it around inside her, compounding the damage. Only the seal of blood around the foreign object permitted her to draw a few shallow, excruciating breaths to fight off the assault of oblivion. 

            She could not believe it. How could he risk killing her if his intention was to marry her? Such an attack should not have even been a possibility! But there it was, a blood soaked dagger pouring her life out onto the dirt. To draw it out was to sign her death warrant, but there was no way she could continue to fight while it impaled her. Either way, she could hardly breathe. Without breath, she was doomed. 

            Sinking to her knees, carefully cradling the weapon to prevent further damage, she cursed Herb furiously in her mind. 

            Across the clearing, Herb began to pry himself up off the ground. He too was struggling to remain conscious, charred and smoking from the searing fury of her attack. Damaged though he was, he remained intact. Slowly, painfully, he forced himself to his hands and knees and turned to study Ranko. 

            She glared at him, tightening her hand around the hilt of his dagger. If he dared to approach her, she swore to herself she would rip the blade out of her gut and bury it in his throat. 

            "It's over, Ranko," he croaked, beginning to inch toward her. "You cannot continue to fight." 

            "Try me!" she spat vindictively, forcing the words out with a trickle of blood. Drawing upon the limitless well of ki, she willed it through her body, focusing on the wound in her abdomen. 

            "Damn it! You lost! Admit it, so I can help you!" he shouted. 

            "Never! You had…" Ranko's voice quit, and she panted to fill her lungs and continue, "…the right… idea…. The only… way…" The effort was making her vision dance, but she was determined to have her say. "The only way… you… will EVER… haaaahh… defeat me… nnnnrnh… is to… KILL… ME!"

            Herb gasped as she began to collapse forward in exhaustion. In a panic, he lunged forward to catch her, before she folded and drove the blade into her heart. "NO!"

            To his shock, she flinched back at his approach, ripping the blade free and leveling it at his throat. If he had not come up short in shock, he would have spitted his neck on it. He instantly seized her arm, eyes flickering down to see her other fist shoved into the now open wound. "Ranko! Please…" At Horiisan, Herb had been impressed with Ranko's sheer nerve and determination, or at the time, Ranma's indomitable will. Once again, he found himself astounded by Ranko's unbreakable spirit. It was only a small step to progress from that respect and admiration to something far stronger, aided by the attraction he had been fighting and the concern that suddenly overwhelmed him. 

            "Damn…" she wheezed, struggling weakly to wrest her striking arm from his grip. Sagging, she closed her eyes, looking inward for some other way to avenge herself. Strangely, the weaker her grip on the flesh became, the stronger the pulse of her ki became. Her mind flashed to the instant before her fusion, remembering the way she had burned from within as the power inside her exceeded her capacity to endure. A bitter smirk touched her lips as it struck her that she was more deadly, stark naked and aroused, than a thousand blades. 

            "You stupid woman! Do you want to die!?" Herb demanded as she lunged forward and snapped her free hand from the wound in her gut over his shoulder, pressing herself against him in a parody of a hug while knotting his long, violet and white hair in her fist. In the heat of the moment, in the intimacy of their pose, Herb was seared by feelings and sensations he was helpless against, feelings a man could have for a woman, which his upbringing had never prepared him for. 

            "Do you?" she purred, ignoring the sickly gurgle deep in her throat. The sensation of all bodily warmth pouring out through the open wound, soaking  them from the waist down, was harder to dismiss. Her insides had to be terribly shredded to cause such bleeding, and that banished whatever fleeting hope she had of surviving much longer. Pressing her cheek against his, and summoning every ounce of ki she could command to surge forth, she panted into his ear, "I meant… to te-ehhh… tell you… There was… no… way… you could w-uhhh… win. I… am… the… Ny-an… nii… chuan…"

            "What? Stop it, Ranko. Save your breath…" he begged, terrified by the sudden ache in his chest, the fear of losing her. 

            "Shut… UP!" she hissed, jerking his head back by his hair. Taking a moment to gulp for air, she then announced, "It m-mah… makes… me… unnnnnh… matriarch…" By now, the ki she was building up was wreathing both of them in diaphanous blue. Ultimately, pain, anger, and hatred, had all fallen away as she grew confident of her victory. 

            Herb blinked, trying in vain to pull back to stare into her eyes. "What!?" he could not help shouting, but at the same time the logic of her statement made itself clear. Ranko had thought her way out of the trap. She had found a defense against all challengers, and the key to assuming power among the amazons. The implications were staggering, and the tragedy of the moment doubly profound. 

            Ranko coughed, spilling warm crimson fluid along Herb's neck. The next breath she took gurgled sickeningly. Herb was about to beg her once more to stop trying to talk, gathering her in his arms as he prepared to fly her back to the village in the desperate hope there was still time to save her. But Ranko's words stopped him cold. 

            "Hey, He-urghk… Herb. Do you… know…?" her first attempt to ask dwindled below the threshold of hearing. Refocusing herself, and noticing that her hand was beginning to glow from within, she rasped, "Do… you… kn-Nnnrrrhh… know… wh-what… I… am? What… Pa… Sh-Shen… was?"

            Herb could practically feel the smile on her face. 

            When he said noting, she decided his stiffening in shock was sufficient answer. "I di'nt… think… I… would… te… ssssst 't so… sooonnn," she trailed off breathlessly as her body went slack. Cursing herself, she prayed he would not realize the danger he was in and escape before she could unleash the power she had collected. 

            Herb did suddenly realize what she was doing. Her final act would fulfill her promise. She was going to kill him. His respect, admiration and concern peaked and in that instant he realized it. He had fallen in love. Feeling her go limp, he sensed he had a heartbeat to launch himself away and summon his own ki to shield himself. But, as he pulled away from her, he could not help but look at the wound he inflicted. The gushing crimson torrent had trickled to nothing. Instead, brilliant light poured out of her gut. The hole in the blood soaked shirt was hard to see through, but as he shifted back, he noticed that the light that was spilling out of her wound was diminishing. Like a ray of sun piercing a thickening cloud, the brilliant beam was gradually winking out. The aperture was closing. 

            The power she intended to kill him with was actually healing her. 

            "Ranko!" he shouted in excitement, seizing her by the arms and staring into her listless eyes. Her face was so pale, the loss of blood alone was proving to be a traumatic blow to her system. She did not realize her wounds were being repaired. She felt herself losing consciousness, believed she was dying. Herb fought to get her attention, to tell her she was healed. "Ranko," he spoke more gently, urging her to respond. Her lids flickered for a moment then opened. As she focused her vision on his face, a strange, triumphant smile stretched across her face. 

            "I… win…" she chirped confidently. Then she cut loose. 


	15. Part Fifteen

It's All In The Reflexes 

A Reflections Bonus Volume

A. V. Morgan

Author's Note 

Well, here it is, the final part of Volume Four (transitional volume between Reflections and Refractions) and only a little longer than usual. I am still debating whether or not this volume will get an epilogue. I was surprised at how long it took to complete Reflexes, compared to how quickly I produced Reflections. I started it to fill the two or three months until I planned to start on Refractions. I seemed to run into a lot more distractions and complications, causing me to work in spurts of three to five chapters at a time, and a few chapters suffered because of that. As much as I would like to go back and fine tune Reflections and Reflexes, to weed out a number of things that tripped up my readers, I don't think I could manage it on my own time and still produce anything new. Although, if some talented or skilled individual were to send me copies of the text with the parts they found awkward or troubling highlighted, I could update it all much more quickly. Any volunteers? … Ah… Could someone at least stomp on all of those crickets? Wai! Thanks! Anyway, many of the things left hanging in Reflections are now wrapped up, or wrapped a bit tighter than before, but of course there are still plenty of loose threads to chase into the next volume. My ambition at this point is to develop this through the remainder of the original manga as a complete divergence, but to also bring in elements of other manga and anime in the hopes that it will inspire me to take this even farther. Thank you all for reading, and I look forward to hearing your questions and comments. (Those sorta things do tend to encourage the creation of ever more fun and exciting stories ^_^)

A.V. Morgan

Part Fifteen

In the final moments of Herb and Ranko's confrontation the clearing enlarged by their conflict was wreathed in a storm of raw spiritual energy. Pure ki boiled off of Ranko and unraveled into massive flows of chi that expanded outward and began to circle the pair locked in a parody of an embrace in the center of the battlefield. It was impossible for Ryouga, Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo, Mirror, Cologne and Cinnamon to miss, as they raced to the spot they had seen wild arcs of lightning converging mere moments earlier. Even without the visual effects, or in spite of the fact that they were blinding, the two could have been easily found simply by homing in on the palpable emanations of power. Unfortunately, this aid in finding Ranko came too late. Bursting from the surrounding woods, there was only time to see Ranko go limp in Herb's arms, to witness as Herb cried out her name in desperation. There was not even time to notice that the couple knelt in a pool of Ranko's blood, as the red-head chirped her victory and unleashed the untamed fury of her soul. There was only enough time for the new arrivals to dive headlong into the dirt as an awesome surge of energy swelled out in a massive sphere, in the wake of a blinding flash of light. For Prince Herb, the onslaught was not unlike diving into the molten heart of an earthbound sun. Only the fact that the fires of this furnace were spiritual in nature prevented Herb and the others from being incinerated on the spot. Instead, they were all gripped by the essence of that energy, the sexual nature of the circuit expressing itself by invading the flesh of those encompassed by the blast, and burning them with an erotic fury. In a heart beat, the helpless victims succumbed to instant arousal and then sublimation in ascending ecstasy. 

            Ranko had no clue her friends had put themselves in danger. Nor was she aware that she had aborted her healing by cutting loose, leaving her repaired body all but drained of blood. Any chance of stopping herself was soon forfeit, as her senses were overwhelmed by the rush of absolution. Her body glowing ever brighter as she relinquished the last of her internal restraints, Ranko smiled serenely, suddenly at peace with sacrificing herself to end the threat her enemy presented to everything she loved. Prince Herb, still clutched by the hair at the nape of his neck--in spite of the fact that all other strength had left Ranko's flesh--knelt at the focus of this devastating assault, gripped by excruciating pleasure. Blinded in the first instant, his chi perceptions remained keen enough to detect what Cinnamon, at a slightly safer distance, could confirm. His own nature as a dragon conspired to hasten his demise. As dragons, Herb and Cinnamon reflexively drew upon the natural flows of energy around them to fuel their own abilities and defenses--a trait that often protected them from energy attacks. In this case, that ability only granted a few heartbeats worth of complete protection, before the overwhelming flood of power exceeded their capacity. They were in the greatest danger of being consumed by her power. Not that the human beings present, one ancient old woman and five teenagers, were immune. Their bodies quickly began to glow from within as the power coursing through them treated their flesh like the filament of a lightbulb. While they would not be consumed as quickly as the dragons, or Ranko, it was incapacitating and prevented them from doing anything to save themselves or stop the tragedy. 

            Only the two dragons present could even guess at the true danger, what might happen once Ranko was physically annihilated and all the power still contained within her incandescent flesh, the infinite tides of her naked soul, burst free into the world. When Ranko merged with her reflections, her raw essence had been exposed for the briefest instant and a half-dozen large bedrooms had been obliterated. That was a mere spark compared to the supernova Ranko was about to become. Whatever the scope of that disaster, no one present could hope to survive it. 

            Of the two dragons present, only one was in anything even resembling a position to act. 

            It took several precious seconds for the realization to hit Herb, and penetrate through the haze of mind devouring bliss. Struggling to focus his perceptions to compensate for his blindness, he realized he could only endure a few more seconds. Already, their clothing was reduced to bleached, ashen echoes of themselves. Their bodies, while more resilient to this kind of blaze, were seared--sunburned from the inside out at the very least. In the distance, Cinnamon spontaneously shifted into her dragon form, when the power she absorbed from Ranko reached the threshold necessary to initiate the transformation. Normally, Cinnamon would be forced to drain her environment of the additional energy necessary to create the mass of full grown dragon, but in this case she could simply soak up Ranko's discharge at an accelerated rate. By drawing the bulk of the surging energy to her--or in dragon form, his--self, Cinnamon unwittingly bought Herb one moment of respite. Without hesitation, Herb acted, catching Ranko under the chin with an accelerated uppercut. Barely clinging to consciousness for lack of blood, Ranko could not absorb the blow. Her head snapped back and consciousness left her as the momentum ripped her out of Herb's embrace. The deadly manifestation of her fury blinked out at once. 

            Herb moved quickly to catch Ranko as she arced up and flew backwards from the blow, slipping one arm around her waist to support her back while the other hand went to cradle her head before it was dashed on the rocks behind her. Their motion shattered the shell of ashes their clothing had become, and Herb was startled by the sight of his own hair as it spilled forward to cloak both of them. He had half expected all of it to have been consumed in Ranko's fire. Instead, the power had bleached it of all color, leaving the formerly two-toned mane snowy white. That warned him how close he had come to his demise, how far he had exceeded his capacity to channel raw energy. His entire body ached, seared through and through, and yet appeared healthy and flawless at the same time. Looking closer at his arms, as he gently lay Ranko down, he noticed that the familiar etchings of faint, thin scars picked up in his long years of training had been washed away. Ranko's power had been healing him even as it was consuming him from within. 

            The others gradually recovered from the sensual, energy onslaught and began to pick themselves up and look around. Fortunately for them, their distance from the heart of the conflagration left them with only slightly singed clothes. Not surprisingly, the first thing most of them looked at was the dragon coiled among the trees, where Cinnamon had thrown himself as his true form spontaneously manifested. With a titanic grumbling, the great dragon struggled to untangle himself, while keeping one eye focused on the former combatants. Cinnamon had seen the final blow of the fight, recognized the blind, instinctive panic that drove it, but knew that by rendering Ranko unconscious and saving the lives of everyone present--possibly every soul between there and the horizon--Herb had succeeded in accomplishing his goal. 

            The same realization was quick to leap to others' minds as they turned to look at the dragon prince hovering over the fallen Ranko. The unnerving sight of the full grown dragon was instantly washed from their minds. 

            "No!" Ryouga cried out, jumping to her feet and racing toward the pair. 

            "Ranko!" Akane and Ukyo shouted in dismay, sprinting after the lost-girl. Shampoo and Mirror stared, speechless, staggering in the others' wake. 

            "Well, it's been quite some time since I've felt anything like that," Cologne quipped while dusting herself off, grateful that the youngsters were all too distracted to notice her chagrin. Lifting her chin, she regarded the sight of Herb arranging Ranko's limbs more comfortably upon a bed of ashes. Blinking, she scanned the clearing that had previously been cluttered by shattered and fallen trees, and found only mounds of ash. Even as she watched, though, green shoots began to push their way through the grey cloak of devastation. The air remained thick with Ranko's spent energies settling to Earth and causing accelerated plant growth. A quick assessment of her own body revealed signs of regeneration and rejuvenation that startled the old woman immensely. She had not been miraculously returned to youth, but the scars of a long, combative life and the nest of remittent tumors she secretly had held at bay for generations--delaying the ravening cancer that forever waited to consume her--had all been burned away. Thus, it was no surprise she was distracted from the shock and disappointment of Ranko's defeat, and too slow to prevent what happened next. 

            "What have you done to her!?" Ryouga demanded, her voice piercing Cologne's daze. 

            "You leave her alone!" Akane commanded, the sight of the naked boy hovering over the naked Ranko tripping every wire in her brain, leaving her with no option but to assume that Herb intended to fall on Ranko right then and there, to seal his claim to her and slake his perverted desires. 

            With roars of anger and outrage, Ryouga and Akane flew in to attack Herb, seizing him in inhumanly strong hands and hauling the prince away from their beloved. Ukyo, having embarked on the pursuit of Ranko and Herb with something of a plan, calmly pulled a water bottle from his pocket and opened it. Mirror and Shampoo were stalking up, one passing weapons to the other with a gleeful menace, neither one taking their eyes off the young man currently being stretched out between the furious Ryouga and Akane. 

            "Hold him!" Ukyo demanded, stalking forward with the open bottle in his hands. 

            Herb reacted instinctively to the attack, but his over-abused body betrayed him. He lacked the strength to break free of Ryouga and Akane's grip, and his attempt to summon chi to reinforce his efforts sent a surge of agony through him. Only as he realized he was virtually helpless did he remember his promise to Ranko, to do her friends no lasting harm. Perhaps, he suddenly thought, he should have bartered for some degree of protection from them. Only, he could never have imagined being this vulnerable to any of them. "What is that?" Herb managed to ask, as Ukyo stopped in front of him and moved to splash him. 

            "This," Ukyo tipped the bottle over Herb's head, "is poetic justice."

            "Not only that, is good way to keep Herb from consummating marriage with Ranko," Shampoo pointed out acidly. 

            "And the first step in getting my revenge on you," Mirror added with a deadly glare. 

            The light of understanding filled Herb's eyes as the cold water touched him, but as the quantity approached the limit to trigger his transformation, Herb went into sudden, screaming convulsions. In the struggle to contain Herb's thrashing, Akane and Ryouga inadvertently tripped Ukyo and knocked the bottle out of his hand, causing the remaining chisuiiton water to pour out right in his face. Mirror and Shampoo had instinctively flinched back as soon as the water bottle took flight, and stood in shock as the prince slowly, painfully turned female. Since Herb was naked, every detail of the ordeal was exposed to their view. The change rippled through the dragonling's body like a slow fire, consuming the masculine form from within, feminine flesh weaving itself together from the "smoke" into sheets of silk that slowly massed up into flesh to replace the body slowly crumbling under the devouring action of the curse. Ryouga and Akane had both flinched away from Herb as the feel of the body in their hands disintegrating and being restored unnerved and sickened them. No one had ever actually seen the transformation in such detail. From the look of it, it could only be agonizing, and the howls escaping from Herb's throat hardly suggested otherwise. 

            "What the hell is happening to him?" Ryouga breathed, horrified. 

            "I think I'm going to be sick," Akane twisted away and fell to her knees. 

            A massive form surged forward from the edge of the clearing, casting a shadow over the teens. There was a moment of general panic as the Nerima regulars noticed what was looming over them and freaked out. Even before they remembered who the dragon had to be, however, they had formed a defensive ring between him and Ranko. The dragon snorted in contempt, imagining for a second how many bites it would take to get through their defenses. Fortunately, what was happening to Herb was of more interest. Cinnamon recognized at once that the flow of power sustaining the transformation was dangerously constricted. Once begun, the change had to be completed or Herb would die, but the channels overloaded by Ranko's onslaught were collapsing under the strain. If Herb survived the change, and the constricted pathways did not proceed to disintegrate, then maybe no permanent damage would result. Cinnamon watched the agonizing conclusion of Herb's transformation, and warned, *Consider yourself fortunate to be alive, dragonling. Be grateful, also, that your curse has been locked. I do not think you would survive another change.* 

            Herb had collapsed into a gasping heap, astonished to have retained consciousness through this latest ordeal. "What do you mean? I'm stuck like this?"

            "You gave us the water," Ukyo retorted, grimly, misinterpreting who Herb was questioning. "I can't believe I got myself too!" he grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. Never, while he arguing the necessity for him to become a man, had Ukyo intended to make it a permanent condition. 

            Akane and Ryouga stood off to the side, struggling to conceal their guilty looks. 

            Herb ignored them and turned to look at the dragon. "What about her?" she gestured at Ranko. 

            The dragon gave a massive shrug. *I would suspect her system will not tolerate another surge of chi either. Neither of you were capable of handling the amount of energy you channeled,* Cinnamon warned severely. He turned his head to study the unconscious red-head. Reaching out with one massive claw, he delicately tapped a number of points on Ranko's body. *It will take some time for both of you to recover, and if you risk further exposure the damage could become permanent. Or fatal.* 

            Herb studied Ranko, looking through the wall of her friends, and sighed. "Once more, I must suffer this prison," she muttered, trying to ignore the specifics of her current anatomy. To distract herself from the thought of her coming ordeal, she considered what had happened between her and Ranko near the end of the battle. Technically, she had accomplished her objective and conquered Ranko. Unfortunately, the battle had altered her perceptions of the petite red-head. The feelings she had awakened to were alien to her, and yet easy to interpret. They literally dictated themselves to Herb, and even a sex change could not subdue the way Herb reacted now to the sight of Ranko. There were hungers, so man hungers, but the most compelling ones were not physical. The respect and admiration that had flowered in Herb for the other girl called out for complementary feelings from Ranko. Feelings she knew Ranko was unlikely to possess for her, and which Herb had no idea how to inspire. The only clue she had was in the promise Ranko had elicited from Herb. 

            Herb grimaced. That would come back to mind with those very people encircling her, eager to wreak vengeance upon her for everything she had done, to Ranko and themselves. The shock of Herb's grotesque transformation was already wearing off, and conflict was inevitable. Herb needed to prevent it. Giving the others a stony look, she raised her voice, "I gave my word to Ranko that I would refrain from slaying or crippling any of you. As I have sustained severe damage in my fight with Ranko, I must warn you, I am not capable of the level of control necessary for me to keep my word to Ranko if you engage me now."

            "Are you threatening us?" Akane growled defiantly, shuddering as the emotional spike caused her to suddenly transform. 

            Herb blinked, not used to seeing a non-water-based curse in action. "You turn into a man," she murmured, as if to make that fact stick in her memory. 

            "Answer the question!" Akane shouted, more aggressively. 

            Herb shook her head, "I am simply making an observation. Even in my weakened condition, I am far from helpless. Unfortunately, what I remain capable of is entirely lethal." It would be ironic, however, if one of them unwittingly made the sacrifice necessary to force Herb to break her word, thus releasing Ranko from hers. "I am sure some of you would willingly die for her, but I do not believe she would find that acceptable," Herb warned with deadly seriousness. That was something of an accomplishment for a person standing in the buff, proving for all the world that Ranko had turned her into a natural, platinum blonde. She glared at them until they backed down a bit, and pressed forward, pushing through them to stand over Ranko. 

            Mirror came forward, leveling a sword at Herb's throat, "Your threats mean nothing to me. I have a personal score to settle with you, and if it means a fight to the death, then I can repay my debt to Ranko at the same time."

            Herb stared at the girl, identifying her as an amazon by speech and mannerisms, but recognizing nothing about her except that she was dressed in Herb's own clothes. Sensing the intensity of her challenge, her beautiful eyes boring into Herb's, the dragon prince frowned hard trying to place her. She was about to ask the girl to explain herself, both the challenge and the theft of her clothes, when it suddenly hit her. The eyes had thrown Herb off. They were usually hidden behind thick glasses, but whenever Mousse had waxed nostalgic about his beloved Shampoo, they would inevitably come off. But the actual recognition came when Herb glanced down, wondering where this girl could have obtained her clothes, and she suddenly caught the resemblance to Mousse in her peripheral vision. Herb's head snapped up in indignation. "You! So, the traitor breaks even the strictest laws of his own people, but has the nerve to cast aspersions upon me!" Herb snarled, shifting her balance and bringing her guard up against Mirror. 

            "It was you who did this to me!" the former boy shouted angrily. Struggling to contain herself, Mirror twisted her lips into a sarcastic smile, "I'm surprised Lime and Mint did not tell you. When I mastered the chi attack you instructed me in, it caused me to be permanently infected by the ghost of the instant nyanniichuan curse I had before. You never knew about that, since I was cured before the confrontation at Jusenkyo. I could have kept the accident a secret, but when you used the chisuiiton on me, this form became the only way for me to regain my humanity." 

            "I would think you would choose to remain a duck rather than risk execution for violating the laws of Joketsuzoku," Herb sneered. 

            "Then you understand I care nothing for death threats from you. I will make you pay for trying to strip away my humanity, for stripping away my manhood, but most of all, I will redeem myself in Ranko's eyes by ensuring you do not succeed in claiming her for your bride!" Mirror declared haughtily. In truth, she was more concerned with redeeming herself in her own eyes, and in the eyes of Shampoo, but Ranko was the one he owed the debt to. 

            "It is a shame, then, that what you aspire to is utterly beyond your reach," Herb retorted, having learned the limits of Mousse's combat capabilities while training him to fight Ranko. Everything the master of hidden weapons had gained, everything he might have used to defeat Ranko, was already known to the dragon prince. 

            "Then you're a fool, for my art was always crippled by the need to make it non-lethal," Mirror gave an evil grin as she revealed that. 

            "You're even more the fool if you think the rest of us are going to let you take Ranko from us," Ukyo stepped up beside Mirror, uber-spatula in hand. 

            "We will never step aside for the likes of you!" Akane shouted bitterly. 

            Herb found herself feeling faintly impressed. Or amused. 

            "We will fight you to the bitter end," Ryouga promised passionately. 

            Herb chuckled. 'If one were the wagering type,' she thought, 'one could make a fortune betting on them. They are so predictable.' In her current condition, the core members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew would be an interesting challenge for Herb. But since the price of slaying any of them was too high, she could not indulge in such a battle. "On any other day, I would count on it. Instead, let me throw a little light on things. You might see the futility of your actions if you understand what Ranko herself told me during our fight!"

            "Don't kid yourself, Sugar," Ukyo snorted. "Ranko is just the tip of the ice burg. Thanks to you, half of us are locked in the wrong form. We've been aching to pay you back for that even before you became a threat to Ranko's happiness. If ever I met a man who was asking to die, it's you, Honey. I think it's time someone taught you that you can't treat people like dirt, no matter how royal your high 'n mighty ass is."

            Low growls from Akane and Ryouga backed up Ukyo's challenge. 

            Herb paused, then lowered her guard. "I believe it is important for you to listen to me. So, I give you my word, if you hear me out, I guarantee you all the use of the Kaisuifuu as soon as I can advise my father."

            That caused a round of blinking. 

            "You'd just hand it over? Just like that?" Ryouga asked, not entirely sure she wanted it. From the moment Ranma had been pulled away from her, before Ranko's explosion, Ryouga had felt on the verge of flipping back to her normal self. She was certain that a few private moments with Ranma, or rather, Ranko now, would enable Ryouga to master the nyanniichuan curse. Of course, there were even more important concerns to address if she ever got that private moment. 

            Herb nodded easily. "I swear it." 

            "In that case, whatever you have to say cannot be good," Mirror declared suspiciously. The promise of being restored to her normal form was enough to make her determination waver, and that in turn made her hatred of the Musk prince deepen. 

            "It is not good for some of you, but it does change things for Ranko," Herb pointed out. There was a round of uncertain looks, but eventually they all turned back to Herb and gestured for her to proceed. They could always beat the hell out of her later. Herb nodded. "Near the end of our fight, Ranko was able to tell me something I did not expect. Something I suspect the amazon elders hoped she would never think about." Herb paused to give Cologne a long, searching look. Not surprisingly, the old woman remained unreadable, listening with great indifference. Herb quirked a nasty grin, "Ironically, the main point is something we all know. Ranko is the living embodiment of the nyanniichuan, the spring that was so important to both the Musk and the Joketsuzoku, particularly when it produced an individual cursed in Fa Shen's image. Which begs the question, Cologne… How many amazons were born to such women? How many amazon bloodlines can trace themselves back to a girl borrowing Fa Shen's face and form?"

            Cologne blanched. More than half of the amazon bloodlines claimed a copy of Fa Shen as an ancestor. 

            "Exact numbers really don't matter, though, since the production of a single child, born of the body of an amazon, entitles that amazon to claim matriarch status. Is that not true?" Herb pressed, enjoying the way the old woman flinched. There was a perverse irony in the whole scenario. On one hand, Herb was standing up for Ranko, yet at the same time driving a wedge between Ranko and the amazons and annulling the bonds between her and her "husbands". 

            Shampoo and Mirror both turned on Cologne with surprised and angry faces. 

            "Of course it's true!" Mirror shouted, glaring at the old matriarch. 

            "Is even in legend! Shampoo told when little girl by Great-grandmother! After death, Fa Shen revered as matriarch and spirit elder because womens who is cursed in her image bear 'children of her body'. That way, her death serve greater good, to strengthen the tribe with many strong babies over many generations," Shampoo reiterated. Then she gave her elder a suspicious, searching look. "All council of elders, they are daughters of Fa Shen! Even from cursed mother, daughter of Fa Shen is strong warrior, have long, long life to gain much wisdom to strengthen and lead tribe!"

            Cologne blinked and stared at the two youths. "Technically, you are correct, Child. That, all of that, is why I hoped Fa Shen might be resurrected when I discovered Ranma's curse. To have that dream come true, there is nothing I could desire more."

            "Oh, I am sure there is a great deal of leverage an elder could gain, to claim the reborn Fa Shen as her heir," Herb noted pointedly. "How convenient, though, that Fa Shen herself was a virgin when she died, that she thought of herself as a warrior maiden, and knew nothing of the legends that formed around her, the legacy that was rooted in her grave! Fa Shen the legend was a ghost, a fiction. One would hardly think of her when confronted by Fa Shen the girl. It was so easy to use her ignorance to manipulate her. To keep her ignorant of the fact that you had no leverage over her. That in fact, no one in the tribe possessed as much leverage as she could wield!"

            "You go to far Herb!" Cologne shouted, surging forward, cane aimed for a shiatsu point that would render him non-threatening for a long time to come. 

            To Cologne's shock, a wall of dragon scales crashed down between her and her target. Giant clawed hands scooped Ranko and the "princess" up and cradled them gingerly to the dragon's breast. Cinnamon had heard enough. By this argument, Herb was revealing that his victory over Ranko would not result in her conquest. It was not yet too late to win the girl for his own mate. There might be other consequences from backing up the dragon prince, but those could be dealt with later. The dragon did not know of the promise Herb had forced out of Ranko, of course, or Cinnamon would have let the female prince face Cologne's wrath. But thinking that Herb would be forced to compete for Ranko's affection through courtship, and confident that no one could seduce Ranko as well as one who had literally lived in her skin for hundreds of years--apart from times the dragon hibernated--Cinnamon considered him a weak rival. For now, Herb had appointed herself as Ranko's advocate, and Cinnamon wanted her to be able to say her piece. 

            Herb was surprised by Cinnamon's intervention, but wasted no time taking advantage of it. From her perch in the dragon's claws, Herb projected her voice regally, "So, the truth of the matter is, Ranko, Ranma and Fa Shen were never subject to the marriage laws. They could not be forced into marriage through combat. Their legacy is already established, their contribution to the tribe is already made." Herb laughed mercilessly down at the fuming elder. Then, she calmed and studied Ranko's still form. There was much Herb had left unsaid, but she would need to speak with Ranko before other problems could be addressed. Except for one thing. Turning to sight on Ryouga and Akane, she called out, "This means neither of you are bound to her under amazon law. At this moment, Ranko belongs to herself."

            "So, when you defeated her…?" Akane asked, plaintively. 

            "Amazon law cannot compel her to marry me," Herb nodded. Then he gave Akane and Ryouga a serious look. "This does not mean I have abandoned my pursuit. You may find this hard to believe, but, as I was fighting her, I came to realize that she is the woman I love. I do not know how this will change things, but I know this. She has come too close to death this day. The nature of the injuries we have both sustained are within the power of my people to treat. I shall deliver her at once to my physicians, and send word to my father to grant you use of the sacred kettle. After that, if you agree to abide by Ranko's wishes, you may come as guests and attend your friend while she recuperates. But, if you continue to engage me in your personal vendettas, you endanger my promise to her, and I cannot abide your presence in my home. The decision is yours. I leave you now," Herb declared, sending a silent request to the dragon to transport Ranko and herself to the castle and fortress of the Musk. 

            *If not for the fact that Ranko is in peril, and the fact that it is I you intend to have treat her, I would tear you into bloody shreds for your impertinence, dragonling,* Cinnamon cheerfully broadcast into Herb's mind before taking wing--figuratively speaking--and flying toward the mountain capital of the Musk Empire. Cinnamon twisted and looped joyfully, delighted to have things moving in such a profitable direction. Now all he needed to do was decide if he should focus on eliminating Herb as competition, or exploiting the dragonling's new infatuation with Ranko to claim the pair of them as mates. 

It was not the first time Ranko had awoken to find herself nestled in an imperial sized bed, in a palatial room adorned with fluted marble columns and exquisite silk and tapestried wall coverings. It seemed to be some weird sub-clause of being cursed, one attracted water and one tended to end up in compromising positions. And while it was unusual to discover herself stark naked under the sheets, that was still preferable in Ranko's mind to waking up in a wedding kimono or western-style bridal gown. Of course, consistent with the rare circumstances when anything rendered her unconscious and delivered her into such unfamiliar surroundings, Ranko had no clue at first what had happened to her previously. It was, essentially, like waking up in a dream, and the past was utterly disconnected. Only, recent experiences had enlightened her about the many depredations she might have fallen prey to while she was out, and the instant dread of molestation opened the door to a flood of recent experiences. Her concern about being ravished was instantly displaced by surprise and dread. The last thing she remembered, she had been dying. A second glance at the expensive and immaculate surroundings made her pause to wonder if she truly had died and awakened in the afterlife. Such thoughts were dismissed as a figure parted the silk curtains dividing the bed chamber from the greater part of the suite. It took a moment for Ranko to identify hre visitor, but recognition brought instant enlightenment on the true nature of the dwelling she occupied, and the ultimate outcome of her battle. 

            "Good evening," Herb greeted her formally. The female prince was dressed in typically fine, bone-white silk garments a shade darker than her newly and disturbingly white hair. Ranko did not have time to make out the image embroidered on Herb's pants and shirt before the dragonling pulled her robe closed and belted it, but the general impression was of something suitable for mourning. Herb studied her a moment then offered a pale smile. "You're supposed to be asleep." 

            "You're supposed to be dead," Ranko growled softly, eyes narrowing dangerously as she pulled a bed sheet tight around her body. 

            "Yes. Well… your friends bought both of us a second chance," Herb returned casually, striding directly toward the bed. Catching a flicker of confusion on Ranko's face, Herb smiled ruefully. "So, you really didn't notice their arrival? In that case, you owe me for saving their lives."

            Ranko sat up suddenly, "What did you do to them, Herb!?"

            "I? I assure you, it was not I who endangered them, my lovely phoenix," the dragon prince held her hands out to profess her innocence, while holding the other girl's eye to ensure she did not miss the way Herb addressed her. As suspected, Ranko flinched at the last three words, remembering what she had tauntingly revealed to her enemy when she believed she had been slain. "I doubt there is any way to soften the blow, but this is all I can offer. Your victory was assured, but your display of power lured your friends--if friends is an appropriate term for that rabble seeking to possess you. It hardly matters, though. They blundered into the midst of your final attack. Even the old woman and the dragon, Cinnamon, were helpless before your power. Fortunately, their presence, especially that of the dragon, provided me an instant in which to act. In your weakened condition, you could not stand up to a good, solid blow. I would like to claim my own prowess or tactical brilliance, but in truth I struck you without thought, in desperation. Nor can I claim to have had the well being of the others in mind. It is for you to take what consolation you can from the fact that only your defeat could have preserved the lives of those you treasure."

            Ranko stared at him, caught between the desire to glare and horror at the idea that she could have killed her friends and lovers. Inevitably, the rest of Herb's statement fully penetrated, and Ranko suffered a moment of sickening vertigo. "I lost. When it really mattered, I actually lost," Ranko murmured softly in disbelief. 

            "I stole your victory. But, you might consider that a blessing," Herb interrupted her musing, speaking in an oddly compelling tone. "I have no doubt now that you are truly a phoenix, the heir to all of Pa Shen's powers and abilities, so there is no doubt YOU would have survived your attack. You should ask yourself, though, would victory be worth the price you would have paid? You would have slain me, your lovers and other paramours, and possibly even destroyed this corner of the world. In the ashes of whatever remained, you would have then been found, an infant vulnerable to the whims of whoever adopted you for their own."

            Ranko could not help but glare at him. "You. Stabbed. Me. I THOUGHT you had KILLED me!" she snarled in growing anger, irritated by the repeated implications that she had lost control of her power and put everything she held dear at risk. The simple truth was, she had believed she was dying and there had been no other way to avenge herself on her murderer. The others blundering into the blast zone was utterly typical of them, Akane must have been in the lead, but Ranko was not the one at fault for creating that desperate situation. "I was not about to let YOU raise me, if it turned out I was a phoenix and got reborn!"

            Herb found herself smirking at that. "Then, you also did not notice that you were healed by the power you were building up to slay me with? Do you know, if you had held off a few more moments, you might have even replenished the blood you lost. It is said that nothing regenerates like a phoenix in the heat of combat. You had already proven what you were. You owe your defeat to your ignorance, your inexperience with your own powers."

            "You would never have given me time to master them," Ranko fumed, pulling her knees up and hugging them tight to her chest. 

            "You are absolutely right," Herb admitted candidly. 

            "I hate you," Ranko closed her eyes and buried her face in her knees. 

            Herb perched on the side of the bed and sighed heavily, "That is hardly surprising. Although, I used to believe I could expect nothing else."

            "Damn right," Ranko snapped, with a bitter laugh. The conversation was grinding inevitably toward what Ranko dreaded most. Having made the details of her defeat clear, and having offered her additional reasons to accept her defeat, even feel grateful the bastard had beaten her, Herb was bound to remind Ranko of her promise. If ever there was a time when Ranko really wanted to cut loose and cry, this was it. But, her eyes remained stinging and dry. 

            Herb was studying her, reading the lines of her body and finding it disturbingly easy to discern the other girl's mood. "You know, it's interesting…" she suddenly observed, "I expected you would hate me, and I figured that feeling could become strong enough to move you to kill me. And while you say it now, I didn't see it when you were trying to kill me. You fight without fear or hatred, and when it came down to it, you leveled your most lethal attack without anger or malice. I used to think you were overconfident, corrupted by the emotion you fueled your attacks with to the point where your confidence was utterly false." Herb made an odd sound, as if she had the urge to giggle and had strangled it to death. Clearing her throat, she continued, "I was able to survive your final attack, that is, I was not destroyed instantly, because a dragon can absorb and channel huge amounts of chi. I don't think anything could handle the sheer magnitude of your output for more than a few seconds, though, not even you. As I was being burned away from within, the most surprising thing--aside from the insane amount of pleasure I was feeling--was the amount of confidence surging up within me. I could not imagine how anyone, or anything could survive another instant of your fury, but that confidence burned sharp and bright, and when the flow of power wavered the next instant, I was able to act without question, without thought, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

            There was a moment of silence as Ranko digested what the dragon prince was saying, then in a small voice she dared, "You're telling me, you defeated me with my own confidence?" 

            Herb nodded faintly, indifferent to the fact that Ranko still had her face buried in her knees. "That, and more importantly, I felt you, I was channeling you."

            Ranko frowned to herself. "I don't get what you're tryin' to say, Herb."

            Herb turned away, peering through a silk veiled window into the distance. That was the problem, Herb did not want to come right out and say what was on her mind. She did not know how to express her change of heart. Instead, she announced, "I should warn you. There is a point at which chi can ignite living flesh. You and I were right on the verge of that flash point when I decked you. While neither of us appears to have sustained any physical damage--in fact we seem to have been purified of all imperfections--we pushed ourselves so far beyond our endurance that we cannot tolerate even a mild surge of chi. This was demonstrated when your friends locked me in this form. The transformation is fueled by chi, and my system couldn't handle the load. The pain was so terrible I instinctively tried to cut off the flow, but of course that chi was essential to complete the change." Herb shuddered and hugged herself, "With the cursed slowed down, you feel everything. You feel your flesh and bones being unraveled, torn and twisted, your blood and body fluids evaporating. The experience is an entirely new dimension of pain. But you don't have to worry about that. The first thing I did when I brought you here was lock you in your present form to protect you from accidental exposure to hot water. I do not know how severe the risk for you is, but I see no reason to chance it. However, since it was your own power, you seem to have tolerated it better than I," Herb ran a hand through her hair to emphasize the way it had been bleached of all color. 

            Ranko gave a puzzled look, lifting her head to take in the gesture, yet noticing that her own hair, spilling around her face and shoulders, remained a vibrant crimson. At the same time, she reflexively reached down inside herself to test her reserves. The awesome power of the circuit was still coiled deep within her, but simply reaching out for it set her nerves on fire. It burned her so intensely it seemed to freeze her at the same time. With a gasp, she ceased. "Thanks for the warning, I guess. But you changed the subject."

            Herb shrugged, feeling Ranko's gaze settle on her, as she peeked over her knees. "The first time you and I fought, when you were Ranma, I came to respect you. The man you were at that time. Your skill and determination were impressive. I thought, If you possessed the right breeding, you could have lived up to the Musk ideal. You also had the distinction of being the only man capable of understanding the ordeal of my curse. The ferocity with which you fought to regain your manhood matched my own and confirmed my expectations of a real man," Herb reflected upon the past. "You were a worthy foe, though I could not admit that until I learned that you saved my life. You were the first man to ever earn my respect. How ironic, then, that the tale of our encounter would provoke my father to command me to claim you as my bride."

            The two snorted in unison. 

            "Heh. You can imagine my shock," Herb chuckled mirthlessly. "But the strangest thing, far stranger to me than the notion that my sire would have me take a man cursed to be female as my wife, was the fact that I could instantly empathize with you. You had fought against far greater odds than I to regain your manhood, and indebted me to you in the process; and your ultimate reward was to be forced once more to endure your cursed form permanently, as the bride of the man who owed you his life? I did not have to wonder how you would react. That struck me a crueler fate than I would inflict upon my worst enemy."

            "Yeah, you were being so sympathetic when you splashed me with the Chisuiiton," Ranko challenged softly. 

            "I had no choice. There was never a possibility of defying my father's will. If I had failed to take advantage of that opportunity, he would conclude I was incompetent and taken matters into his own hands. Once he named you--and here there is no point distinguishing between you and Ranma--to be my bride, the only thing that stood between you and the alter was my request to pursue you on my own behalf," Herb revealed to the surprised red-head. "Trust me, I did the best I could to offer you a chance escape that fate, to fight for an honorable demise."

            "Yeah, right! You have manipulated everything to force me to marry you!" Ranko snarled into her knees, hugging them tight. 

            "You do not understand the power my father commands. If he commanded it, you would have been dragged from your home by overwhelming force, locked in female form, broken and then reconditioned into a willing bride, and nothing you or I could do would have prevented it," Herb advised, with a deadly serious look. "Of course, I never imagined you would turn out to be Fa Shen, or that you would be divided into triplets. I was surprised enough to have you fall into my lap, right in my own back yard. That changed everything. Instead of being able to offer you a clean death, as a way to escape from the fate my father had in store for you, I had the option of claiming a more prestigious prize in the place of the man I owed my life and respect."

            "I thought you chose her to avoid being married to another man," Ranko prodded crossly, remembering their confrontation outside of Jusenkyo.

            "Challenging her was a desperate gamble, but I was willing to risk it to avoid the inevitable outcome of pursuing Ranma." Herb scowled, irritated by the fact that she had become used to thinking of Ranma and Ranko as separate entities, in spite of the fact that she knew they had reverted back to being the same person. Making the necessary adjustment, she continued, "Believe me, I was certain the matter would end with your death or mine. You had already proven to me that you were indomitable," Herb retorted mildly, still staring off out the window. Crossing her arms, she continued, "Fortunately, your claim to being a reincarnation of Fa Shen, through whom Fa Shen herself had been resurrected, offered me some leverage. My father made the reasons for his command clear. You had embraced your womanhood, so you were a superior choice to Ranma, and the original Fa Shen was a superior choice over you. That it would be more tolerable for me to be wed to a true woman was beside the point. My options remained marriage or death, subject to my father's will or yours. 

            "So, I forced you, as Fa Shen, to meet me on the field of battle, counting on your amazon heritage to bind you to me if I could defeat you," Herb reminded her, again adjusting for the change in the triplets' status. I had prepared myself to fight you again as Ranma, but with the three of you present, I did have a margin of error. If I failed to defeat you as Fa Shen, I could attempt to conquer you as Ranko. If it came down to it, I would have been forced to settle for the part of you that was Ranma. That was all the slack I had. I did not imagine, in any case, that you would feel anything but hatred for me if I succeeded in claiming you. Assured of that, I knew I would be forced to break you, whichever incarnation of you I claimed."

            There was a moment of silence as the two brooded over Herb's words. 

            "I should have known it would be more complicated than that. I knew you would curse yourself, as Ranma, to regain your manhood. I should have known you would not be content, as Ranko, to remain bound until I could succeed in conquering Fa Shen. My efforts to keep you in the wings simply invited chaos, forcing me to suspend my challenge to Fa Shen." Herb sighed deeply, shaking her head. "I was a fool to delay the conclusion of that battle. By taking the time to prepare for a rematch with Fa Shen I made it possible for another to defeat her. Learning of that at the same time I learned of the union of Ranma and the pig-boy, I realized I could not take any more chances. I pursued you with utter ruthlessness. Unfortunately, as I was learning about Fa Shen from Mousse, I also leaned about you, and how you had incorporated the identities of your other selves into a gestalt."

            Ranko groaned, half at Herb, and to herself over the memory of what happened to her other selves. 

            "It was apparent to me, after the fight at Jusenkyo, that I would be forced to break you, if I claimed you for a bride. Fortunately, I had already perceived the most effective way to begin breaking you, while at the same time purging you of those things that would make you an unsuitable bride. But I will be honest, I had other motives for stripping you of your manhood," Herb revealed shamelessly. Catching, out of the corner of her eye, the sight of Ranko jerking half upright to stare at her, Herb rose and began to pace around the bed. Ranko rearranged herself, shifting up onto her knees, sheet tucked carefully around her torso to leave her arms free. Herb took a deep breath, having decided to confide her thoughts and feelings, it was time to address the ones she had avoided the longest, "I suppose it is a cultural thing. My upbringing left me with the belief that women were ultimately no more than animals. Women were not real people. Their human appearance granted them the illusion of more, allowed them to mimic the qualities of a real person, but I always considered their intelligence and character mere reflections of those qualities in men. Ranko and Fa Shen, as women, were pathetic reflections of a more worthy being, Ranma. Make no mistake, Ranko and Fa Shen were exquisite creatures, imminently desirable and perfectly suited to fulfill my father's demand, and my needs as a man, but not worthy of the respect I held for you as Ranma. Then, as Ranma, you lost my respect when I learned that you had become infatuated with a boy, seduced by the pleasures of your female form, and embraced your womanhood. That, really, was the worst thing. The three of you confronted me with my own greatest fear, the fear of succumbing to my own curse. Having once viewed you as a person, a man possessing a number of traits that made you nearly my equal, to see every version of you embracing the weaker sex was a betrayal I could not bear. I buried my sympathy, replacing it with a growing need to punish you for betraying your manhood. I began to take pleasure in the thought of claiming you as my bride, and teaching you the ultimate lesson of your folly--that to be a woman was to be no more than the property of some man."

            Ranko stared at the dragon prince in growing outrage and disgust. 

            "That's pretty much the answer to the question that's been stirring in your head the past week," Herb pointed out with a secretive, self satisfied smile. "Why I did what I did. Or maybe, what I was getting out of it, since obedience to my father was compulsory. I wanted to rub your face in the choices you had made. I wanted you to regret it with every fiber of your being. So, I set out to strip you utterly of any claim to manhood, determined to break you while your other selves were helpless to do anything. On the surface, my motivation was two fold. Of immediate concern, if you could not compliment me in this form, there would be no temptation to explore its appetites. But of equal importance, your eternal suffering for the loss of your manhood would be a constant reminder and warning to me of the danger of this body's temptations," Herb detailed methodically. Even so, there was the sense that, in spite of all these admissions, she had yet to explain what mattered. 

            "I already knew you were a ruthless bastard," Ranko grated menacingly. "Do you really need to spell it all out?"

            Herb stiffened for a moment, as if to turn and face her. Then she nodded. "Yes. I really do need to spell it all out. You still aren't getting the point. There's a lot more to it than being a 'ruthless bastard'. Do you think I was looking forward to marrying you? To being wed to a woman who hated me with every fiber of her being? Or the hollow shell I would be forced to reduce her to? Do you have any clue just how ruthless I would have to be to fulfill my father's command? To break you, make you the docile brood mare I would need if ever I was to sire an heir on you? To damn you with the thing that I most fear happening to myself?" Herb's voice grew colder and more strained with each question. "Even my worst enemy would deserve better. I could not hate you enough to justify my actions. That was the problem."

            Ranko was struck speechless. 

            "Oh, I tried. I dredged up every excuse I could to hate you," Herb assured her fiercely. "Of course, you never made it easy for me. All the things that made Ranma the person he was are so painfully evident in you. In fact, you seem to have become a more complete person as a result of embracing your femininity. You… you had the gall to proclaim that being a woman made you no less a man. In my mind, such a statement ought to have meant that you still considered yourself a man… But of course, what you were really trying to get across was that you were a real person, regardless of whether you were a man or a woman. You presented me with the notion that a woman was a person, and you stood your ground, willing to fight to defend that point," Herb looked over her shoulder to meet Ranko's eyes to emphasize her words. "I never wanted to break you more than when you defended you male half. You were every bit as sincere in your determination to regain your manhood as the first time we fought. I never admired you more than when you promised to kill me if I dared to take further action against you. That too was sincere, worthy of the man I owed my life and respect. There was a moment of hope, the fleeting thought that a woman could be a person, that your acceptance of your girl half was not a rejection of your manhood, but the inevitable result of having an entire life as a female. For a moment, I thought I could see in you some hope of my own salvation, if not an escape from my curse, an understanding of it that did not undermine my worth. 

            "Then I remembered my objective, all that I had done to ensure you would despise me," Herb slumped. 

            Ranko blinked. Herb looked genuinely disturbed. That sudden look of defeat kept her from declaring the depths of her hatred. 

            "I would expect you to understand me. To understand that losing against you was not an option. I had to succeed, whatever the cost," Herb declared plaintively. "The fight itself… I do not know if I could have defeated you by skill alone. I could not do what you did against me, triumph against impossible odds against an opponent infinitely more powerful than myself. Though my need to win was great, my desire was insufficient. Since losing was not an option, and I could not defeat you, my only option was to render you incapable of fighting. There, my training betrayed me. I was taught to kill, not incapacitate. Instead of a simple gut wound, I instinctively struck for the heart."

            Ranko buckled over in memory of the blow, impaled by a ghost of that pain. After a few shallow breaths, she asked, "You weren't really trying to kill me?"

            Herb turned to meet her gaze. "I suppose, since you had absorbed your other selves, it was a return to the original circumstances. In death you might escape from the fate my father has in store for you. But, it was not my intent to slay you. I had already resolved to obey my father in form only. While I was required to make you my mate, I had decided not to try and break you. I swore to give you every privilege and freedom I was capable of. Anything, to make up for the things our marriage would deny you."

            "I see," Ranko looked down in confusion and dismay. Was that what it would be like? Was that her future, to be the prized, pampered possession of this haughty prince? A life of wealth and luxury, a marriage of convenience, and separation from everyone she loved? She took a deep breath and let out a sad sigh. The tears that would not come earlier suddenly welled up. "Of course, there would be the little matter of breeding heirs. I am certain that your father will demand you produce an heir, if he has not already." Her attempt to sound nonchalant came out bitter. 

            Herb laughed hollowly, gesturing to herself, "I doubt that will be an issue any time soon. I do not know when I can be released from this form, if ever."

            Ranko looked up, blinking away tears. "Wait. If you're stuck as a girl, can you even get married to me?"

            Herb looked away. "Poetic justice, she said," Herb muttered. Taking a deep breath, Herb shrugged, "At times I think my father quite insane. He is pleased as a python in a rabbit warren to see me trapped in this form. At the same time he argues daily with the council of elders trying to convince them they must deny your claim of matriarch status, so you will be forced to give me the kiss of marriage."

            "Huh?" Ranko tilted dangerously to the side. 

            "Ah, I forgot to mention that. I shared your revelation with Cologne and your friends. The council of elders has been holed up night and day arguing your case," Herb revealed. She shook her head and returned to looking out the window. 

            "What's the point?" Ranko babbled in confusion. "I already promised I would marry you if you won…"

            "Ah, yes." Herb droned distractedly, then shrugged. There it was in a nutshell. Herb could have marked her territory immediately at the conclusion of the fight. All she had needed to do was reveal the promise Ranko had made and the matter would have been completely settled. Granted, she would have lost Cinnamon as an ally and  been forced to retreat from a skirmish with Ranko's fan club, but Ranko would have been bound to come to Herb and fulfill her promise. Herb had enough confidence in Ranko's sense of honor to trust in that. Instead, Herb had maneuvered the situation to keep from being separated from Ranko, on the grounds that she needed to speak with her before revealing the truth. Only, now that she was, she was finding it very difficult to get to the point. "Your promise makes the whole status question moot. Doesn't it?" she asked rhetorically. Then, with an indulgent smile, commented, "Too bad they don't know about that."

            This time Ranko did fall over. Jumping back to her feet she shouted, "WHAT!!?"

            Herb smirked and slowly approached her. "I seem to have forgotten to mention our little agreement," she carefully stated. 

            "ARE YOU INSANE!!?" Ranko bellowed, catching herself and then lowering her voice. "What sort of game are you playing, Herb?"

            Herb sighed and walked away. "Why not put it that way?" she asked herself, ignoring Ranko for a moment. For days she had wrestled with her new found feelings, trying to decide what to do about them, what to do about Ranko. More than once, she had tried to dismiss them, but when she set eyes on Ranko again the uncertainty and anxiety surged forth again. There was no question she wanted the red-head, wanted the marriage she had pursued out of duty. Yet, she could not escape the fact that Ranko had been willing to kill, willing to die, to avoid a union with Herb. There lay the root of Herb's uncertainty. The reason Herb hesitated to proceed. She fell into silent thought for a moment before turning around to face Ranko across the width of the room. "Do you really want to be in a loveless marriage, Ranko?" she enquired timidly. 

            Ranko shook her head violently, asking hopefully, "Are you releasing me from my promise? Why?"

            Herb frowned. "I… I wish I could do that, but…"

            "But nothing," Ranko retorted. She had been unable to imagine losing when she gave Herb her word. It was far from the first time she had wagered her hand in marriage on a challenge, and past experience proved the risk only encouraged her victory. Only, this time it had not been enough. She would rather have died than lose, but she not only lost, her foe had saved her life, and the lives of her friends. If ever there was a time when Ranko wished she had Genma's sense of honor, it was now. Considering Herb was as likely to fall for a rematch challenge as Ranko was liable to grow wings, she had held out no hope of escape or reprieve. Until now. "You just said a hundred times how much you hate the idea of being in a loveless marriage!"

            "I do," Herb admitted, ignoring her exaggeration. 

            "So, why go through with it?" Ranko demanded. 

            Herb stalked forward suddenly, forcing Ranko to retreat until she was backed up against the wall. There, mere centimeters separating their faces, Herb demanded, "Do you really hate me that much, Saotome?" There, at last, Herb was able to utter the question that she had been agonizing over since the end of the fight. 

            Ranko gulped. There was something in the other girl's eyes that unsettled her. Once again, she found herself unable to vehemently declare her antipathy. "N-now, what kinda question is that?" she babbled nervously. 

            "I think it's the most pertinent question," Herb insisted. 

            Ranko squirmed. "You said it yourself…"

            "I need to hear it from your lips, Saotome!" Herb snapped fiercely, making Ranko cringe. 

            Under her breath, Ranko cursed, "D-dammit! Why does he have to be a girl right now!?"

            "What was that?"

            "N-nothing. Why are you acting so weird?" Ranko demanded, defensively. 

            Herb sighed, closing her eyes tight. There had to be some way to express herself to Ranko, without coming right out and saying it. The words were simple enough, but the red-head would never believe them. Herb needed a way to present things so that Ranko would understand. After a moment, she began to speak slowly. "In my life there have been less than a handful of people who have earned my respect. Among those my own age, there were none, until you."

            "You have a funny way of showing it!" Ranko quipped reflexively. The sight of Herb flinching at the jab made Ranko feel sudden regret for mouthing off. 

            Herb glared at her a moment, then continued, "Of those I respect, half of them taught me the meaning of fear and hatred." 

            Ranko frowned. 

            "It never occurred to me that one of them might also be able to teach me the meaning of love," Herb added meekly. 

            Ranko frowned even deeper. She was about to blurt out a demand to know what that had to do with anything when a sudden spark ignited in her brain. That spark bloomed into full fledged shock, as it spread realization through her. Suddenly, Ranko was able to place the look that had been on Herb's face. The same look had been on Ryouga's face the night she tried to offer herself to Ranma. "Y-you have got to be KIDDING!" Ranko wailed in disbelief. 

            Herb cringed back, looking hurt. "Doesn't being a girl mean you're supposed to be at least a little sensitive!?" she demanded. 

            "But, you can't be serious!"

            "I'm deadly serious," Herb assured her, scrabbling to regain her composure. 

            "You tried to kill me!" Ranko protested weakly. Her confusion only mounted as she challenged, "How can you possibly think you're in love with me?"

            Herb looked down, her bangs flowing forward to hide her face. "Do not mock me," she hissed from behind that veil. 

            "Mock you! You're the one messin' with my head! You won, damn you! You have my word I'll marry you! Why do you have to try and fuck with my emotions too?"

            The distinct ring of pain in Ranko's voice brought Herb's full attention back to the red-head. "Did I win!? Is that what you think?" she shouted in desperate tones. "Do you believe me such a heartless monster that I am incapable of feelings of genuine respect and admiration? Am I so cruel and insensitive I cannot be moved by the strength and determination of someone who refused to accept defeat even in death!? Am I so inhuman that my heart cannot grasp the horror of watching something of incomparable beauty and strength bleeding to death in my arms? Do you hate me so much you cannot even imagine me capable of such delicate feelings as love?"

            Ranko could not find her voice, distracted by the sight of actual tears welling up in Herb's eyes. 

            "I can think of no hell worse than to hold my love's life in my hands and know she despises every fiber of my being," Herb gasped out, shoving roughly away from Ranko. As she turned her hands scrubbed roughly at her face, a fierce and automatic denial of tears and extreme emotions that came unbidden and all to easily in her present form. A few blind steps brought her to the bed, where she collapsed. 

            After a moment, Ranko dared, meekly, "You really love me?"

            Herb moaned into a pillow, then threw herself upright, "Weren't you listening!?"

            "I… I just don't understand…"

            "What's to understand? Don't you know what love is?"

            Ranko flushed and looked away. Nothing could have prepared her to witness an emotional breakdown of any kind from Herb. Still, she could understand how Herb might find it easier to express "his" emotions in cursed form, how much easier it was for the man inside to exploit this female form to express the vulnerabilities "he" dared not admit to in his natural form. Her own experience made it disturbingly easy to recognize the pain and confusion Herb showed. Even so, Ranko protested weakly, "I'm not really good with emotions…" 

            "What the hell made you sleep with another man? If not love, I can't imagine anything besides insanity!" Herb's disbelief was caustic. 

            "It's not that simple, Herb!" Ranko protested irritably. 

            "You mean to tell me, you don't know what love is?" Herb challenged, with obvious skepticism. 

            "I only just figured out what sex is! How can you pretend to suddenly know what love is?" Ranko fumed self-consciously. 

            Herb blinked. A prince of the Musk led a sheltered life, but also had to endure a sophisticated education. Having found so much in common with Ranma/Ranko, it was only now she considered the implications of the teenaged martial artist's rough speech and rude manner. Sitting up properly and composing herself, she took on a thoughtful look. "Don't you read or anything? I've seen the way you are with your lovers. I can't believe you have any doubts about what love is."

            "Who ever learned anything useful from a book?" Ranko grimaced. Neither Ranma nor Fa Shen had been raised in a fashion that placed much emphasis on book study. They had never found a book that could convey knowledge as effectively as a living instructor--excluding the animated corpses that presided over the classrooms at any school Ranma had ever been incarcerated in. 

            "What are you, illiterate?" Herb snorted. "Well, you just have to take my word for it. You can learn anything from books, if you know how to read them properly."

            "Hey, I know how to read!" Ranko mewled angrily. 

            Herb shook her head. "Whatever. What has developed between us is like one of the great romantic tragedies. I know I love you because the sight of you dying made my blood run cold. It tore at my heart and ravaged my insides with unbearable grief. I know I love you, because I feel like I need to be looking at you to know I am alive. I know I love you, because the idea that you hate makes me want to die."

            Ranko was stunned. One part of her wanted to compare these pretty words to Kuno's inane ramblings, but where he professed himself with great passion, Herb looked like someone was winding her intestines up through a hole in her back. It took a moment for her brain to process everything Herb said, but ultimately it all came down to one thing. "You're not holding me to my promise because I hate you?"

            Herb flinched and looked away. 

            Ranko sighed. She was going to hate herself for screwing this up, but having come to understand the degree of pain Herb was in, she simply could not refrain from speaking. "I don't hate you, Herb," she revealed softly, sadly. Herb suddenly clutched her chest and whipped her head around to stare at Ranko in disbelief. Taking a deep breath, Ranko elaborated. "I hate what you've done. I hate what you do, how you go about doing it. Why is it when people think they're better than everyone else, like you, they feel the need to treat everyone else like dirt? How can you just walk all over people and still look at yourself in the mirror?"

            Herb flinched and moaned as each statement and question stabbed her to the quick. What was it about having feelings about someone that gave their words the power to inflict such pain? Not even her father's acid barbs burned so sharp. 

            "I WANT to hate you. It's not like there's much I can even like about you," Ranko continued, to fill the growing silence. She could remember the hatred she had felt for Herb during their fight, how it surged up to choke her in the heat of battle. "There were a few times, the day we fought, when I did hate you. But I can't hold on to it," Ranko admitted sheepishly. A cold, lingering hatred was something Ranko was totally unfamiliar with. It was a blindness that got her into trouble again and again with Ryouga. She just could not relate. "I've never really seen the point of hating anyone. It never really helps anything. Maybe it helps when you gotta beat 'em up, but I don't like the way I feel when I let that move me. It ought to be enough to just stop people like you from ruining other people's lives; show them that there are people who will fight for the people who can't fight for themselves. But you're one of the worst. It's not enough to fight you, 'cuz you won't learn any lessons from it. You'll just fight nastier, until you get your way. That's something I just don't know how to forgive."

            Herb had curled into a ball on the bed, staring at a wall in the opposite direction from Ranko. 

            "I guess I sorta cinched it there, huh?" Ranko asked after a moment. 

            "What?" Herb blinked and rolled over to give Ranko a confused look. 

            Ranko squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, I told you I don't hate you. I suppose that means you're going to hold me to my promise, huh?"

            Herb stared at her thoughtfully for a minute. Finally she shook her head. "I can't… I mean, I can't let go, Ranko. But I don't want to… If I married you now, you would make me start to hate myself. Hell, you already have."

            Ranko looked back in miserable confusion. "Herb…"

            "I didn't set a time limit, Saotome. Can't we at least wait and see what the council says?"

            Ranko stiffened in anger. "I don't care what the council says. If they don't back off, I'm going to make them regret it!"

            "Ah, are you forgetting you're rather crippled in the awesome, overwhelming power department?" Herb reminded her. 

            Ranko paled. 

            "Don't worry. The more my father hounds them, the more likely the council is to endorse your matriarchy."

            Ranko sighed and shook her head. "Is this insanity ever going to end?"

            Herb coughed. "It very nearly did. Are you sure that's what you really want?"

            Ranko paused to consider, then realized her discussion with Herb had distracted her from the draft licking up and down her exposed limbs. Glancing down, she realized she had forgotten she was nude when she fell out of the bed. Looking up she met the apprising eyes of her conqueror. With a high pitched squeak, Ranko darted into the folds of a silk wall hanging, wrapping them around her and effectively pinning herself to the spot. 

            "Well. That's an interesting position," Herb smirked, evil nature coming to the fore as the urge to toy with her captive surged forth. She decided she had had enough of bearing her soul. She had learned enough to confirm most of her suspicions and unearth an unexpected hope. Ranko might not hate her absolutely, but there was no underestimating the depths of her resentment. Forcing her into marriage would be a mistake, but the promise was sufficient leverage for Herb to begin a different kind of campaign to conquer the red-head. On this new battlefield, the opening shot was a look of hungry appraisal and a coy smile. "Yes. You certainly are going to make me hate myself," she muttered. 

            "Oh, I hate you," Ranko ground out laconically. 

            "You realize, you're just making the challenge more interesting," Herb pointed out. 

            "I really, really hate you," Ranko growled, as Herb rose from the bed and began stalking forward. 

            "Too late, Saotome. You already let the cat out of the bag," the dragon prince grinned. Herb's taunting came to a swift halt, as Ranko shrieked in sudden terror, ripping free of the wall--dragging the silk tapestry with her--and darted past Herb to bury herself under blankets and pillows. Hardly a reaction Herb would have expected. To the shuddering lump in the bed, she aired, "Was it something I said?"

The next morning, Ranko was determined to catch up on everything else she had missed. Her second awakening in Herb's bed was no less disorienting and disturbing than the first. The events of the previous evening returned to Ranko fitfully, sparking a moment of panic when she recalled the way Herb had started toying with her after shocking her with a declaration of love. She let out a sigh of relief when she found herself alone and remembered that, as she tired of Herb messing with her mind, Cinnamon had arrived to chase the dragon prince off to a couch in the adjoining room preventing her from trying to join Ranko in bed for the night. The memory of that evening left the red-head certain of only one thing, Herb's thirst for conquest had not been satisfied by her victory over Ranko in that fight. While Herb could force Ranko into marriage with a single word, the dragon prince suddenly desired more than Ranko's body. Herb seemed intent on using Ranko's promise as leverage to conquer her heart and mind. As if anyone could fall in love with such threats and promises hanging over their head. Even so, the dragon prince had started probing for the right angle to seduce Ranko, the best way to bring down her guard and overcome her defenses, perhaps even testing herself, to find out if she was capable of exploiting her cursed form to entice her prey. Ranko had to pinch herself to make sure the whole thing was not some warped dream. Confirming she was awake, Ranko found herself surprised that she had even been able to sleep, following the revelation of Herb's feelings and the news that the council of amazon elders had been stirred into an uproar over Ranko's defeat and her claim to matriarch status. Apparently, whatever Cinnamon had done after coming in to examine Ranko had ensured a deep and peaceful sleep. 

            Remembering the dragon's instructions on how to summon her, Ranko closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts on Cinnamon hesitantly. Braced for agony, she tried to project her thoughts at the dragon. When there was no pain, Ranko assumed she simply failed to do it correctly--and then Cinnamon stalked into the room with an aggrieved expression.

            "Ah, you didn't have to shout, you know," Cinnamon opened, half wincing as she met Ranko's eye. 

            "You heard me? I thought it didn't work… there was no pain, like when I tried to tap my ki," Ranko confessed in mild confusion. 

            "That is because psi is not accessed or channeled through the body like chi," the dragon asserted tartly. 'Although,' she thought to herself, 'it does explain why Ranko "shouted". She is used to gauging her power levels solely through chi channels. And yet, she has developed psi pathways. Curious.'

            "Psi?" Ranko blinked. "Isn't that just science fiction?" she asked, as the concept of psi was one she was only familiar with from anime and manga. 

            "What?" Cinnamon asked, able to parse unfamiliar words and concepts only by probing the mind of the speaker. "Oh, no it's not make believe. Psychic potential is a component of sentience, and the mind draws energy from the soul directly on a different level than the body. That is psi. You should work on developing it. Psi is much more suitable for channeling and controlling the level of power you have access to now." 

            "Wait. You're telling me I'm psychic?" Ranko was amazed. 

            "Most people are. What makes you different is that you've had a little training, some practical experience, and plenty of power to devote to it," Cinnamon replied calmly, settling on the edge of the bed and quickly assessing her patient. "I am sure you would be a natural at it."

            "Reading people's minds and movin' things with my thoughts?" Ranko asked warily, not sure whether to be excited or concerned. 

            "Those are the basics, but I assure you it's not as simple as that. Now, it looks like you are doing fine. I might recommend a few more days of induced deep sleep, but I think your friends and the amazons would storm the castle if you don't put in an appearance in the village today," Cinnamon changed the subject, drawing Ranko's attention back to the concerns she had when Cinnamon arrived. If her suspicions were right, a decision was to be reached that afternoon about Ranko's status. 

            "You mean, I can go see my Mom and my friends?" Ranko asked hopefully. 

            "That is the plan for today. Do you feel up to it?"

            "I feel great! At least, as long as I don't need to fight or anything."

            "Certainly not. I'll be your chaperone today, so anyone who wants to fight will have to get through me," Cinnamon promised. 

            With that assurance, Cinnamon urged Ranko out of bed and helped her get dressed, casually borrowing clothes from Herb's wardrobe. Once Ranko was presentable, Cinnamon escorted her through the castle and outside where her mother and friends waited to accompany her back to the amazon village. Because of Ranko's condition, they were forced to proceed at a leisurely walk, giving everyone plenty of time to talk as they crossed out of Musk territory and made their way to the village. Thus, everyone had a chance to speak with her, starting with her mother. 

            "I am so happy to see you are alright," Nodoka beamed, giving her a crushing hug. The others continued to walk on, to give them some privacy. 

            When Ranko could breath, she smiled up at her mother, "I'm fine, Mom."

            Nodoka bit her lip, her concern about the outcome of the fight and the resulting controversy, or perhaps even the merging, evident on her face. She wrestled for a moment with her thoughts, then blushed, "I'm sorry. So much has changed these past weeks. I was only just getting used to having three of you, and now, I'm not even sure what to call you."

            "I'm still me, Mom," Ranko insisted, feeling a surge of dread. 

            "Do you mean, you are still my son, Ranma? Or my daughter, Fa Shen?" Nodoka asked, lowering her voice as she touched on what Cinnamon revealed about Nodoka's former identity. She did not fail to note how Ranko's face fell. It was obvious she did not recognize the import of the question. The legalities which concerned Nodoka, and the obligations that now devolved solely onto Ranko's slim shoulders. 

            "I am all of that. I am Ranko," the girl insisted, struggling to contain her disappointment, her sense of rejection. 

            "I know that is the name you've given yourself," Nodoka stated, with a stern smile. "I simply note, as Ranma or Fa Shen you have legal rights and responsibilities, where, as Ranko, you are merely ronin. How could I not be concerned?"

            Ranko stared at Nodoka in shock. 

            "I am curious, because your decision dictates my own. What are we to do, Ranko? Return to our lives as Ranma and Nodoka, to live under the thumb of that fool husband of mine, forever struggling to live up to the honorless promises Genma has made as the head of our clan? Should we be Fa Shen and Pa Shen and resume our lives as amazons in this forgotten backwater, subject to their antiquated laws?" Nodoka demanded softly, yet sincerely. 

            Ranko studied her mother's face intently for a long moment, before asking, timidly, "What do you want me to be?"

            Nodoka sighed heavily. Rubbing Ranko's shoulders, she declared, "Believe it or not, I just want you to be happy."

            "Then why are you always holding my honor over my head?" Ranko begged plaintively. "Are you trying to tell me I can't BE happy if my honor is compromised? If that's so, I'll NEVER be happy! Between you and Pops and the amazons and Herb, my honor has been torn into so many pieces I can hardly find a piece big enough to hold onto! So many people own a piece of me, you can't chop me into small enough pieces to go around! By this point, I couldn't redeem my honor even by killing myself! Why shouldn't I go ronin?" Ranko stopped herself, on the verge of tears, disturbed to have said all of that to her honor-bound mother. 

            Nodoka knelt before her daughter. "I'm not suggesting you should not. In fact, I would hope enough of your personal honor would survive to make the sacrifice worth while. Unfortunately, I do not think you can be happy if your personal honor has been compromised that much. I think the only thing that sustains you through all of this chaos is the integrity of your personal honor, that confidence in yourself. I can't bear to see you lose it."

            "But, no matter what I do, I will ultimately be forced to betray myself," Ranko anguished. 

            "Then, you must choose which part of yourself to betray," Nodoka pointed out calmly. At Ranko's surprised look, she sighed and explained, "Contrary to what you said, death can release you from this mess. Even if, technically, you do not die. Only that part of you, for which the problem is living, needs to die. Only… Ranma… or Fa Shen. Do you understand?" 

            Ranko held her mother's eyes, unable to believe what she was hearing. At the same time, she understood her mother's initial question about her identity. As Ranko, she was neither Ranma or Fa Shen. They were the roots to her tree. Legally, however, she was either Ranma Saotome, son of Genma, or she was Fa Shen, the amazon maiden and daughter of Pa Shen. To test her understanding of her mother's suggestion, Ranko commented, "Or both. You're saying I can't be reborn until I die, I can't start a new life while the old one remains."

            Nodoka nodded, "I could indeed be saying that."

            Ranko sighed, glancing in the direction of a lost boy and an angry girl. "I'm not sure anyone is going to let Ranma or Fa Shen die." 

            "You need to figure out who has the power to decide, and who has to pay the price--who really has to pay the price." Nodoka gave the girl a serious look. Her keen eyes noted that Ranko's attention had not been lost on the two temperamental teens. After a few private moments, the mother nudged Ranko and increased her pace to catch up to the others. "You can think about it later. Why don't you spend some time with your friends," Nodoka suggested, with the force of a command. As she moved ahead of Ranko, Ryouga and Akane separated from the main group and fell back. 

            "Are you okay?" Ryouga opened. 

            "Did Herb do anything to you while he had you locked up?" Akane demanded anxiously. 

            Ranko shook her head and focused her attention on Ryouga. She had been dreading this, dealing with both of them after absorbing her other selves. As usual, with the formation of the circuit, she had gained the memories of Ranma and Fa Shen, but through the merger her personality had been universally dominant. Although still a mix of Ranma and Fa Shen, she was not the Ranma or Fa Shen that Ryouga and Akane would want her to be. To divert questions about herself, she prompted, "When did you turn back into a guy, Ryouga? Did Herb let you use the Kaisuifuu or did you master the curse without me?" 

            Ryouga blushed, flashing a quick, guilty look at Akane. Ranko turned to look at Akane curiously, then returned to studying Ryouga as he answered. "Sorta both, actually. He promised we'd get to unlock our curses if we heard him out, but when he told us that you weren't bound by the marriage laws and took you away, I got so depressed… I was stuck as a pig for a couple of days, um, because I kinda ran off and… I got lost."

            "I found him when I was taking a bath yesterday," Akane blushed. 

            "Um. I'd found a pile of your clothes, and I musta fallen asleep on them," Ryouga pointed out, carefully leaving out the fact that he had been so strongly overwhelmed by the scent of his beloved he had buried himself in the pile and wept himself to sleep. 

            "He fell out when I went to pick up the clothes, and I was so relieved to have found him, I sort of forgot I wasn't dressed."

            "So, I woke up in the arms of a naked girl, and I, uh… I thought you had come back to me, and I got so happy I just wanted to hug you," Ryouga began to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "The next thing I knew, I'd turned back into a man and was hugging Akane."

            "But nothing happened! Really!" Akane insisted, her color deepening. 

            Ranko studied the pair of them, looking at her anxiously, and found herself grinning. She could easily picture the scenario. Even through the possible outcomes that might tear her heart to pieces, if not for the terrible secret she was keeping. Rather than jumping to conclusions, in fear of the worse, she tried to imagine how the situation would end if she had been involved. "You mean, somebody walked in on you guys right at that moment?" she asked suggestively. The way they suddenly became fascinated with the foliage girding the path was sufficient answer. Ranko laughed, "Yeah, that's how it always happens. Well, congrats, Ryouga. Now you don't have to worry about being splashed anymore." Ranko reached out to catch his hand and squeeze it. 

            Ryouga looked down at their hands and sighed. "I guess so. When we used the kettle later, nothing seemed to happen, but when I tried cold water I no longer changed into a girl. But of course I still turn into a pig," he added in disgust. 

            Ranko nodded sympathetically, and looked at Akane. "So, what about you? Are you still turning into a guy?" 

            Akane bit her lip, and nodded. "I turned into one when we confronted Herb."

            "But you changed back, right, so that means you know how to control it, right?" Ranko offered an encouraging smile. 

            Akane nodded glumly, looking away. They walked on in silence for a while before Akane broke the silence. "I… I'm so sorry, Ranko."

            "For what?" the red-head asked in concern. 

            "For all of it. I'm sorry I lost my temper and kept lashing out at…" Akane cut herself off, not sure how to refer to the triplets now that they were one person. 

            "It's nothing. I'm just glad… I mean, I hope… If I am recognized as a matriarch, you and Ryouga won't be forced into marrying me." 

            Ryouga and Akane almost stopped walking, and exchanged looks. 

            "You didn't want…?" they began at the same time. 

            Ranko sighed. "How many times to I have to say I'm not READY for marriage?" she demanded rhetorically. Giving each of them a serious look, she replied, "Even if I was still split up, I don't think it would have been right, being married to both of you. Being forced into it. I mean, that wouldn't be fair to either of you. It REALLY wouldn't be fair now that I'm like this again." 

            Ryouga sighed. "It wouldn't have been so bad. I'd rather share you than never… But still, if it means Herb can't have you either, I don't mind, really."

            Ranko blanched. "Yeah. Not that it fixes everything. There's still the engagements with Akane and Ukyo," she pointed out. In part of her mind, she was working over the fact that Genma was not her father, and how that should invalidate all the promises he had made, engaging Ranma to Her-Name-is-Legion. Then Ranko jerked upright and turned to stare at Ukyo. As hard as she stared, Ranko was not able to determine exactly what sex her "cute fiancée" was at the moment. Turning to the others, she asked, "Is Ukyo…?"

            "Back to normal too. I think…" Akane cleared her throat and coughed. "She was locked as a guy for a couple of days. Spice took his time 'finding' the Kaisuifuu. But she got it unlocked, and went back to being a girl as far as I know." Akane chose not to add that Ukyo had been spending a lot of time with Mousse, or rather, Mirror, since Mousse seemed to have declined the use of the magic kettle for some bizarre reason. It did not take a genius to figure out what was on Ukyo's mind. Akane had cornered the okonomiyaki chef a few times to explain that her chi curse was not better than a Jusenkyo curse. As far as Akane was concerned, watching out for cold water was infinitely easier than keeping a lid on her volatile emotions. 

            "Maybe I should talk to her," Ranko chewed her lip thoughtfully. 

            Ryouga and Akane exchanged a look and then nodded, giving Ranko a push in Ukyo's direction. 

            "Heya, Ranchan! It's nice out, isn't it?" Ukyo asked, when she noticed Ranko falling into step with her. 

            "Hi, Ukyo. Ucchan. It is great to be outside again. I guess it's really spring now," Ranko made with the small talk. 

            Ukyo nodded, smiling to herself. In an offhand way, she asked, "So, how did it go with Ryouga and Akane?"

            "I'm still not sure. Things have changed so much… again…" Ranko sighed. 

            "You can say that again. Um… Not that I want to cause a problem…" Ukyo began hesitantly. 

            "You caught them in the bath together?" Ranko jumped ahead. Ukyo nodded. Ranko chuckled, "You should know by now, things are never what they seem. Well, at least not always."

            "I still can't get the image of you… and yourself…" Ukyo flushed deeply. 

            Ranko winced. "Yeah, um… now you see why I'm not jumping to any conclusions about Ryouga and Akane. I don't think they'd do it, but who am I to complain if they did?" Ranko asked. Ukyo gave her an understanding look. "So, speakin' of stuff I don't got a right to judge… Did you make a desion… you know, after your 'experiment'?" Ranko ventured hesitantly. 

            Ukyo smiled. "That," she held up a finger instructively, "is a secret." 

            "Heh. You might be the only person who could actually keep a curse secret. You don't change all that much," Ranko observed ruefully. She envied the other girl a little, being able to wear the same clothes comfortably in either form. Glancing to the side, to gauge Ukyo's reaction, she asked, "I guess you're hoping the council gives me matriarch status…?" Ukyo did not flinch or start or betray herself with a guilty look. She just shrugged and nodded. 

            "Now that there's just you, it's nice to think we'd all have an equal chance of winning you. It'll be like going back to the way things were, only now we've got guys to watch out for, as well as girls, for rivals," Ukyo noted cheerfully. 

            "Yeah, um… even that's not much of a change," Ranko pointed out. 

            "You mean Kuno?"

            "Well, there have always been guys chasing after me in girl form. Not that those guys can ever be considered real rivals…" Ranko wrinkled her nose. 

            Ukyo nodded thoughtfully. 

            Ranko found herself wishing once more that Ukyo was still her old best friend, and not a rival for her affections. The situation with Herb was more than she could handle alone, but she could not confide in a potential rival. The risks for them were too great, not just from Herb personally, but from the forces Herb or his father could command. She did not want to find out if Herb could find a way, if provoked, to eliminate the competition without violating the letter of his promise. She had thought about confiding in her mother, but Nodoka had completely distracted her from her problems with the dragon prince. As disturbing as Nodoka's thoughts were, Ranko was suddenly grateful she had not been bombarded with questions about Ryouga and Akane. Ranko imagined her mother was desperate to know if she would continue to regard Ryouga as a lover, if the amazon marriages were annulled, or how Ranko intended to deal with the engagements to Akane and Ukyo. Obviously, Ranko could no more confide in Akane and Ryouga than she could in Ukyo. Shampoo and Mirror technically had no claims or disputes left toward Ranko, but the part of her that came from Ranma was very leery of trusting the amazon girls--particularly the former blind boy--she would not put it past them to team up and go after her boy side. There was no way she would confide in Cologne. Depending on how the council ruled, and maybe even in spite of the ruling, there was the fact that, as Fa Shen, Ranko had been named Cologne's heir. That was more than enough ammunition in the old woman's hands. 

            Ranko came to a dead stop as it finally penetrated, she had a surfeit of potential lovers, but no actual friends or confidants. 

            In her most desperate hour, she was truly alone. 

            That thought haunted her the rest of the way to the village, as Cinnamon dropped back and goaded her into motion. As she walked with the older girl, she contemplated the fact that Cinnamon was the oldest living being she had ever met. She was also interested in claiming Ranko as a mate, but unlike the others, she was more than capable of standing up to Herb and his minions. Was it worth the risk of falling prey to the dragon's desires to appeal to her for aid?

            Ranko did not come up with an answer to that question by the time she was presented to the assembled council of elders. 

            After a few formalities, the council wasted no time urging Cologne forward to announce their decision. 

            "After three days and three nights deliberation, the Council of Elders of the Joketsuzoku have reached this conclusion," Cologne announced regally. Giving Ranko a measuring look, she declared, "In spite of the fact that every one of us on the council is descended from 'a child of her body', Ranko is not the first woman to be reincarnated and return to the tribe. Though unique in having been resurrected, and retaining the memory and identity of Fa Shen, the laws concerning reincarnation still apply thusly: Male or female, Ranko is entitled to honorary warrior-maiden status. By virtue of possessing living descendants, Ranko is also entitled to honorary matriarch status. These special circumstances do affect the application of marriage law, entitling her to claim either a husband, a wife, or both, as an honorary warrior-maiden, and as an honorary matriarch, the kiss of marriage is not compulsory. Those who defeat her in combat are qualified to become her husband or wife, but she is entitled to choose whether or not to marry them."

            There was a brief uproar as people debated the announcement. 

            Ranko raised her voice, cutting off the crowd. "What is the difference between matriarch status, and 'honorary' matriarch status?"

            Cinnamon cut in, preempting the spin doctored response, "The difference is, your 'honorary' status allows them to deny you a spot on the council. They're refusing to recognize you as an elder, which you would qualify as by virtue of the number of generations descended from you 'in body'."

            "There are two requirements to be an elder!" one of the old women shouted, glaring at Cinnamon. "First, one must be a matriarch of more than one generation, but also, implicit, one must be of an age to possess the necessary skill and experience to rule!"

            "Age is implied, but not stipulated, or have the amazon laws changed so much in the past three hundred years?"

            "An outcast such as yourself has no place discussing the laws of the amazons!" another woman snarled. 

            "Outcast?" Ranko turned to look at Cinnamon in surprise. 

            Cinnamon shrugged. "Some time ago, I made the mistake of defeating an amazon and leaving her alive. She chased after me for a year then offered to bring me into the tribe. I was not interested, so she continued to chase after me for the next hundred years. Inevitably, I picked up enough amazon lore from her that the council of that time tried to induct me by proxy. When I found out, I stormed in and flaunted their laws until they were forced to expel me. It was the most entertaining century in the past millennium," the dragon chuckled. 

            "So, these guys," Ranko gestured at the council of elders, "Would have all been girls back then, right?"

            Cinnamon frowned for a moment. Then she nodded. "In any case, they granted you protection from marriage to Herb, while denying you the leverage or power of your position. Interesting demonstration of 'wisdom' however, snubbing a living legend," she denounced, with a mocking smile. Turning to stare at Cologne she challenged casually, "I suppose you had no choice. If you are not very careful, you might have to pay the price of your forbears folly, no?"

            Cologne blanched and the other elders stiffened in shock and fury. 

            "After fifteen hundred years, I suppose you thought you would never have to worry about the consequences of that one blunder," Cinnamon guessed. Giving Nodoka a glancing look, the dragon continued. "I guess you did not count on Pa Shen mentioning the ridiculous lengths the tribe went to trying to prevent her from leaving. How embarrassing it must have been to name her their queen, and have her leave just the same, but apparently the quality of amazon councils is consistent. The event was quickly covered up and forgotten… It would have been quite embarrassing for all of you, now, to be forced to fully recognize Fa Shen, or Ranko as she is now, as the princess she became posthumously. How pathetic!"

            "P-p-princess?" Ranko reeled back in shock. 

            "Yes, 'Princess'. But I suppose that's only an honorary title," Cinnamon quipped. 

            "B-but, wouldn't that mean…?" Ranko gave her mother a quick look, and cut herself off. She had almost forgot, Cinnamon had advised Ranko and her mother to keep their "true nature" a secret from the amazons. 

            Cinnamon gave her a sharp look and deflected, "That would make you even more desirable to Spice and Herb, I suppose."

            Ranko thought long and hard, ignoring the low rumble that had started at Cinnamon's public revelation. Regardless of the snub the dragon had made Ranko aware of, the council had thrown her a bone. Officially, she was spared all of the marriage complications, and was safe from Herb. Her main reason for coming back to China had been fulfilled as well, more completely than she had even intended. She was restored to 'normal' and she had sorted out the legacy of her former life. "Whatever. I was never interested in bein' in power here any way. I just wanted to clear up the mess, get myself back to normal, and go back home. If they're not gonna make me their princess, I couldn't be happier."

            The situation with Herb was not resolved, but since Herb was waiting to "win Ranko's heart", there was really only one thing left to say, "Can I go now?"

            Nodoka gave the assembled council an odd look, then she turned to Ranko and smiled, "I think it's past time we went home."

            Ranko jerked her head around in surprise, having detected something odd in how Nodoka said the last word. "You mean, 'Home' home?"

            "Would you like that?" Nodoka asked, looking her most motherly. "I believe we've accomplished more than enough here."

            Ranko slipped close to her mother and hugged her, letting out an exhausted, "Please!"


End file.
